https://www.change.org/p/education-dear-white-administrators-in-academia?recruiter=3283349&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=Search%3ESAP%3ECA%3ENonBrand-Tier+1%3EHead+Term%3EExact&recruited_by_id=77f5ece0-2cfc-0130-c231-38ac6f16cbb1&fbclid=IwAR285U00LUXRyAeiNeqCTyh2bOxaEZXGD77a415mKfuGumgrqbBR_iAjcmA

This letter originally appears in a text about decolonizing academia published in Dec 2018 by Clelia O. Rodriquez’s “Decolonizing academia: Poverty, pain, and oppression” (p. 119). Published by Fernwood Publishing.

Dear white administrators in academia:

You,

as the sole protectors of intellectual property, are claiming politics of diversity in a built-in, impenetrable, and dismissive apparatus legitimizing imagined narratives in the name of a colour-class-gender-blindness system.

You,

as the keepers of meritocracy, rationalize learning mimicking an up\right barometer throwing bodies away as soon as it climbs to the second tier.

You,

as you sit comfortably in boardrooms populated by leather chairs, organize the Master Narrative of Successful Stories to be advertised in the cover page of the institution’s webpage.

You,

as the writer of academic policies, dictate what students will be dismissed by ignoring their back\ground, language, HIS\story, cultural beliefs, religion, and gender preference, among other identities.

You,

as a white world traveler visiting offices of international relations, get to advocate on behalf of students of colour and champion their identities.

You, as the fabricator of universal visions of education, deliberately invite input from across all sectors of campus via a five-minute electronic survey with the promise to raffle the latest gadget.

You,

as the defender of high academic standards, by\pass the lack of intellect of the sons and daughters of rich benefactors.

You,

as the well-meaning patron of endowments, secretly over\look it if the off\spring of a powerful sponsor is accused of sexual harassment or rape.

You,

as the puppet master, do not get the authority of what constitutes a “safe space” while playing with the strings of keys that open the gates to “freedom of speech.”

You,

in the name of quality control, are escalating rapidly climate academic change and installing cameras that are melting our brains.

You,

have spoken for a long time, leading us to believe your pacifying speeches that are designed to keep us dormant.

Signed,

People from all walks of life.