Western Connecticut State University professor Daniel Barrett says that he is “blinded” by his own “whiteness,” and wants it to go away. The professor adds that individuals with less melanin in their skin are contributing to the destruction of the environment, among other problems.
“I don’t know all of what it means to be white or male or a US citizen,” writes Western Connecticut State University professor Daniel Barrett in an op-ed, entitled “Race Traitor?” “I am blinded by my whiteness and am unable to see myself for who I am (not).”
In his op-ed, Barrett insists that “the white race” is “based on the continual exploitation of others,” as well as “the increasing destruction of the environment,” and the “total demolition of value.” The professor concludes that it, therefore, “should be allowed to dissolve into oblivion, erode into nothingness.”
“I am a traitor to my race,” proclaims Barrett. “If the relative power and status of the white race were to slowly diminish in influence over time — to be replaced with concepts and source of identity that would facilitate better stewardship of the earth and more respect for the rights of all humans, then I would welcome this.”
“I would be okay with the eventual loss of power and privilege associated with being white,” continues the professor. “Race itself could lose its social, political, and economic significance.”
While Barrett does not explain how, specifically, being white establishes certain advantages over others — or how it contributes to a variety of the world’s tribulations — the professor does go on to reflect on his own personal ideas of what his skin color means to him.
“I do not know the extent to which I have been advantaged, but it is clear that I have,” writes Barrett, “This ‘extentness’ cannot be unpacked because there is no separating what I have earned from what I have been given. Privilege is yet another question which must remain unanswered.”
“Whiteness needs to go a-way,” affirms the professor.
Barrett then bizarrely states that even if he were to wish to be non-white, it would not be “an authentic wish,” because “a queen cannot feel remorse over not being a factory worker.”
“Desiring to be other than ‘white’ is not an authentic wish,” states Barrett. “Similarly, it is impossible for the master to rue not being a slave — a queen cannot feel remorse over not being a factory worker. We cannot meaningfully wish to be who we are not.”
“A wealthy person is unable to wish to be poor,” the professor adds. “There are no other options.”
Professor Barrett teaches Psychology of Persuasion, Human Origins of Good and Evil, and Advanced Personality/Social Psychology, among other courses, at Western Connecticut State University, where he is also the chair of the school’s Psychology Department.
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