E. Alex Jung
E. Alex Jung writes columns for the Spec. He is known for expressing viewpoints perceived by many as "radical"
In pointing to the conflation of race and culture, and the way that students of color are essentialized at Columbia, Jung has rhetorically offered to "dance for [readers of the Columbia Daily Spectator] kabuki-like with chopsticks in [his] hair".
Views on race
Jung believes we live in a "system of whiteness". He describes some of the white people he has encountered as racist enemies of justice, but at the same time, describes white allies who are explicitly opposed to racism and lovers of justice.[1] He believes that white people have a tendancy to be unaware of their privilege[2] and resistant to discussing race issues[3].
Furthermore, Jung believes that the Core Curriculum focuses excessively on the ideas and works of white men.[4]
References
- ↑ "To turn an oft-heard phrase around, some of my closest friends are white. They are anti-racist lovers of justice, wholly non-representative of their group."
- ↑ "It's a generalization, of course, but not a superfluous one to state that white people at Columbia (not only of course) never think about the conditions of their privilege."
- ↑ "Race is not an issue for most white people quite simply because they don't feel its weight. When a critique of white privilege alights on their shoulders, white people quickly cry reverse racism."
- ↑ "Du Bois writes about the deluded Western belief that 'every great thought the world ever knew was a white man's thought.' What better subtitle for the Core Curriculum?"
