White professors should not teach BIPOC history and culture

It should come as no surprise that USC is a PWI — a predominantly white institution. Just look at any given still-shot from a home football game. Or the Greek Row. Or any dining hall. USC’s colors may be red and gold, but its face is white. And there’s no lack of op-eds calling for increased diversity in student admissions and more transparency regarding the University’s advertising strategies — I’ve written one myself. However, what perhaps is less touched on is the lack of diversity in the University’s faculty. 

There should be more Black people, Indigenous people and people of color at USC in general.  However, the immediate concern is over the lack of Black, Indigenous and professors of color in underrepresented history and culture classes. From my own experience as a mixed race student at USC, having taken multiple courses in this area, all of them were taught by white professors. This could be explained as just one person’s experience; however, this sentiment is corroborated by many other students in similar situations. 

Unsurprisingly, 66% of USC’s faculty members are white — that’s 1,624 of the total 2,444 professors. Far, far behind is the next largest sector: Asian at 14%. Next follows Hispanic or Latinx and Unknown, both at 6%. Then, Black at 5%. Nonresident undocumented persons at 3%. Two or more races at 2%. American Indian or Alaska Native at less than 1%. 

These proportions are reflected across the nation. According to a 2019 study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, 80% of full-time professors at degree-granting postsecondary institutions were white while Black professors made up about 4%; Latinx, approximately 3%. 

Now, the counterargument for this would be: It is difficult to hire only Black and Indigenous professors and professors of color for these classes when, perhaps, the majority of the applicant pool is white. Then, there is the complaint about why institutions should ‘limit’ their hiring pool to underrepresented communities when there are so many white candidates who have the same credentials. 

So let’s unpack this. Why are there so many more white professors at schools like USC?

For one thing, there is the vibrant history of systemic oppression in this country. People of color have less access to education and academic resources, as well as opportunities. Just think: If your first concern is making money to provide for you and yours, you’re not going to choose a liberal arts field as your focus. Topics such as history and culture are ones of a certain level of privilege, which historically is not given to marginalized groups in this country. 

Accentuating this divide, there seems to be a historic trend of white people immersing themselves in liberal arts and higher education. This can’t be minimized to a recent trend — it has been going on since the birth of Eurocentric fields of social study. To be more specific, recall the beginnings of anthropology, where white people appropriated artifacts from other cultures for the sake of ‘science.’ If this seems too far off, then there is always the tendency of white people toward cultural appropriation.

All these factors culminate in a skewed system of higher education in which people are being taught an often inaccurate version of non-white history by nearly all white people. In addition, this system feeds into the white savior narrative, in which white people are the sole holders of history and culture. 

On March 1, Christopher Manning began serving as the University’s first chief inclusion and diversity officer. The move, by President Carol Folt, comes after enormous pushback against the administration following calls for accountability in regards to the University’s institutional systems of inequity and division. Hopefully, we will begin to see diversification in the University’s faculty as well as its student body.

This is not only a missed opportunity by USC to actually be as diverse as their PR team likes to portray in admission pamphlets but a serious disservice to their students. The importance of representation in universities cannot be overstated. Students come from all over the world in pursuit of an education. The idea of leaving one’s family, friends and hometown — of being supplanted in a new, foreign place — is already daunting. Add in that you’re still the minority, and everything looks pretty bleak. Seeing professors that look like you, that come from a similar background, proves a path to success. 

The terms of our present and future should not be dictated by the antiquated past. This is not the 1800s — a white face is not the right face. We must demand more of ourselves and the institutions we are part of in order to see real change. There are more than enough white voices telling BIPOC stories. It’s past time for change.