I must say, it's quite astonishing to be in an academic space that is so FULL of people of color. You don't realize what's absent until it's suddenly present.
“Do we lend legitimacy…
"Do we lend legitimacy to the academy by our participation in the institution?" Well, yes, clearly. I don't think Beth Ritchie is actually suggesting in this plenary that all the queers / people of color / women quit the academy en masse....but maybe she is?
For those concerned about legitimacy, I’d worry less about granting it to the academy by one’s presence than acknowledging that one’s position there is itself an indicator of privilege.
That’s a point too (and one they made several times), but I’m not sure it’s the bigger problem.
I guess what I’m saying is, Soylent-Green-like, the academy *is* academics. A tenured professor in their own department is much more an arbiter of legitimacy than a subject of it.
(If I’m missing the bigger problem, it may be because I’m getting this out of context–is the problem being stated one of institutional racism in higher education?)
The problem is that hiring minority faculty offers ‘cover’ to the university on diversity concerns. While avoiding substantive change in other areas.