Anti-racism and inclusion testing: New requirements for California college professors

In California, there are 116 community colleges which welcome 1.9 million students. These public universities are practically free and open to all, which allows young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to access higher education, explains Corine Lesnes, correspondent for the newspaper, in her column. The world.

In this Western American state, two-thirds of students belong to minorities, while the majority of the 61,000 teachers are white.

He new regulations regarding “diversity, equality, inclusion and accessibility” (DEIA), which regulates the attitude that teachers must adopt towards students as well as the content of courses, calls on academics to “demonstrate a constant awareness and recognition of racial, social and cultural identities with a understanding their importance in creating structures of oppression and marginalization.

But beyond being aware of these issues, the regulation, according to which any teacher who claims “not to be racist” “denies reality” , advises identifying your biases and the damage caused by your behaviors. The concept of merit also becomes a protection for white privilege.

In California, the concept of structural racism and gender issues are not new and institutions have already adapted to the new norms, as have teachers who use non-binary pronouns when addressing their students. However, the new regulations make the promotion and tenure of teachers subject to their “competence in DEIA” since they will have to provide concrete examples of “cultural competence, self-reflection and personal growth”.

Consequently, six professors sued the state in the name of freedom of expression . They are supported by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), an association that defends academic freedom.

“The state cannot tell you what you can or cannot believe,” said FIRE attorney Jessie Appleby. He argued that the requirements make otherwise protected expressions illegal and that the language used in the DEIA rules is vague, which This is a violation of the 14th Amendment. “We believe the rules applied to university professors are unconstitutional, virtually in their entirety,” Appleby said.

Both parties are now while waiting for the case to be set in court present oral arguments before a judge.