Ryerson University to Host "White Privilege Conference" That Costs $250 to Attend

Got 250 bucks burning a hole in your pocket? Look no further then the White Privilege Conference at Ryerson University.

On May 9^th, through the 12^th, Ryerson University will be “proudly” hosting The White Privilege Conference, where it seeks to “explore Canadians’ challenges with privilege and oppression.”

The white privilege conference website starts by giving a brief explanation of what “white privilege” is, and states one of its goals: “White Privilege refers to a socio-political system that distributes power, privilege and benefits unequally among groups in societies and countries in our world. It is rooted in the history of European colonial domination and settlement of the Americas, Asia and Africa, on one hand, and the 19th century practice of race science justifying this domination, on the other. These two phenomena have resulted in a set of political, social and cultural beliefs, assumptions and practices based on the primacy of one group over others.”

“Through workshops and panel discussions, we will engage in trans-formative conversations about privilege and its impacts with an aim of building a more inclusive world. As is the Ryerson way, WPC Global - Toronto invites diverse and respectful perspectives, and encourages community-wide participation.”

The WPC also aims to “enhance individual understanding of white privilege, as well as to address the dominant narratives that operate throughout our institutions and across society.”

An admission fee of a low $250 (general admission) is required to attend the event for one day only. However, if you’re interested in attending the whole three-day conference, you better run some more cash, three-day admission is a whopping $650 (general admission). Just when you think you’re as privileged as you could get, you’re privileged with the requirement to pay to hear someone tell you that you have white privilege, and by virtue are oppressive.

Now you might be asking yourself, how could you talk about white privilege for three days? Well, the website also displays potential topics of discussion that include:

• Privilege
• Whiteness/Critical Whiteness
• White Supremacy
• Colour Blindness
• Colourism
• Intersectionality
• Anti-Indigenous Racism
• Anti-Black Racism
• Anti-Immigrant Racism
• Anti-Semitism
• Islamophobia
• Orientalism
• Oppression of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities
• Heterosexism
• Cissexism
• Colonization
• Power
• Consciousness Building
• Inclusive Pedagogy
• Inclusive Design
• Intentionality
• Accountability
• Eurocentrism
• Ethnocentrism
• Cultural Imperialism 

What might “colour blindness” and “consciousness building” have to do with white privilege? This list could be ripped apart ad nauseam, but more importantly, what I think it shows is insight into how people who buy into this way of thinking, think, and exposes the pathological ideology that under lies it.

How can one simply benefit from their skin colour? It’s racist to imply such a notion, just as it’s racist to imply all black people are criminals, simply because their black. We are forgetting, and slowly letting go of the individual. You aren’t just you anymore, you’re categorized into groups based on shared identities such as race, sex, socioeconomic status, etc.

Why is it bad to collectivize people into groups? It’s because a crude game of tribal identity politics will ensue. Putting the group identity above the individual is to put all the wrong doing done by the group, onto the individual. This pushes everyone further into polarized tribal groups, minimizing productive dialogue and individual accomplishments, and promoting derogatory stereotypes.

(See more on: Why Individualism is Better than Collectivism)    

Shedding more insight on their ideology, spokesman’s Gary Howard (affiliated with WPC), says “Whites need to acknowledge and work through the negative historical implications of ‘Whiteness’ and create for ourselves a transformed identity as White people committed to equity and social change...To teach my White students and my own children...that there are different ways of being White, and that they have a choice as White people to become champions of justice and social healing.”

To make this conference even more humorous, is that it comes after the cancellation of an event titled “The Stifling of Free Speech on University Campuses”, which was also supposed to be hosted at Ryerson earlier this school year. I guess they weren’t as “proud” to host a free speech event as they were to host a white privilege conference. It just more evidence showing how these people think;

Free speech for me, and not for thee.