Missouri school ponders white-only racism workshop

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A Missouri school is considering a segregated safe space for white students to talk about their racism and white privilege.

Vincent Flewellen, chief diversity officer at Webster University in St. Louis, has plans for a new program based off a book, titled, “Witnessing Whiteness: The Need to Talk About Race and How to Do It." The local Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) began the "Witnessing Whiteness" program, which requires participants to be white. If brought to Webster University, the workshop would launch in late 2019.

Flewellen most recently brought a “Witnessing Whiteness” program to Washington University in St. Louis. He spoke about the program during a 2018 interview with NBC and said that he wants white people to stop calling the police on black people “just because they’re gathering in a park.” Additionally, he told NBC that he hopes white people who participate will “find their voice and are able to speak to, call out and stand up against racism.”

According to the YWCA chapter’s Racial Justice Director Mary Ferguson, there are currently 16 “Witnessing Whiteness” groups that meet regularly and approximately a dozen more that could begin meeting this year. Ferguson also formerly served as an adjunct professor at Webster University from 1997 to 2009.