Anonymous wrote:PP - I'm white, European descent, now I know 'non white' is also off the list. The fact is that most of the world isn't WHITE hence hope we all may find a language that works for everyone to solve the world's problems together as a team. So how would the initial post have worked better. Son is white , his partner on project is Pakistani, the label of 'white savior' was started by a Eurasian student, the teacher is white Czech, and the rest of the class is made op of all colors of the rainbow. Is this more or less offensive?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, if he -- or you -- are taking it upon yourselves to define other students as "non-white" instead of as individuals with individual opinions, that's already, as you would say "problematic". It's also interesting that if, indeed, the students who are POC , without exception, are calling your son out for having a "white savior" attitude, your thought is to post anonymously on a forum that skews decidedly white and UMC to get support for this viewpoint being problematic-- instead of trying to understand and directly address the attitudes and possibly the behavior that your son's classmates brought to his attention.

DP. You're joking, right?
I teach and we have been getting non-stop training this year aimed at unveiling our hidden prejudice, in addition to being told that "being color-blind" and dealing with people as individuals instead of focusing on race is a form of aggression.
So what I've been teaching my own children for almost two decades about race being a social construct that has no basis in reality and skin pigmentation coming from melanin concentration in response to UV exposure is apparently racist, or something.
I am no longer interested in engaging on this issue and have instructed my college-aged kids to do the same. Just stay out of it to stay out of trouble.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m truly not trying to start something, but as a 60 yr old liberal who sent my kids to public schools that weren’t predominantly white, and ended up with kind level headed young adults who i think/hope are pretty solid humans- one presented a paper on mitigation of gang cartels and resources in Central America etc affecting migration. The mom white students have gone after his ‘white savior’ attitude being ‘problematic’, now I’ve looked it up and there are real important reasons we recognize the difference between patronizing causes and championing. But are we getting to a place where it isn’t acceptable to represent potential solutions in a browner world without justifying why? Anyway, just wondered if anyone has found this labeling uh... problematic.

My kid who entered college wanting to do international humanitarian work has abandoned that goal because "you just can't be a white person in that field." Just being white and wanting to apply yourself to global poverty or women's empowerment in other cultures makes you a "white savior" apparently. I do think it is a cultural moment and that the pendulum will swing again, but it makes me sad.

I am a international development professional, and you can absolutely do this work as a white person. The idea that you cannot runs 100% counter to my experience in this field, my experience as a hiring manager, and a look around my own organization and those of our peers.

If your child didn't want to do this work, that's fine, but there's no nationality or racial check. However, as white people, we need to work hard to transfer power and authority to local communities, to lift up local voices, etc. That sometimes means that we (North American, Western European, white folks) end up playing a background support role to local leadership. That is as it should be.

Anonymous wrote:OP here, so I contacted DS at grad school (abroad) and inquired further. He and a female partner were tasked with joint presentation in a class on development and international conflict, each Dif ethnic backgrounds, in a class that is mixed -- he focused on Central American climate affected draught and cartels powerful influence as opium is one resource that grows with little water and as Biden already intends to send money to the region the argument was such resources should be applied in a way that citizens be empowered to make lasting change, and the partner focused on the aspect of women and the toll it takes on them and all related to the root causes of migration. At end of presentation where professor praised their work and team effort, An American student, citing her parents as UN development people, spoke to her study abroad in Honduras and how it is close to her heart and she didn't hear enough about how the citizens themselves felt, which turned into a post-presentation zoom labeling fest as he indicated the community building was his first premise. Probably he showed some exasperation as it was the end of a heavy semester and hours of research, and like many of our students on zoom all year he felt called out. It seems the 'white savior' label has been tossed around quite a bit, as throughout the year his friends have often confided to him privately to him about a number of other students they feel fit the label, so he was surprised when it was hurled his way too.

Anonymous wrote:Well, if he -- or you -- are taking it upon yourselves to define other students as "non-white" instead of as individuals with individual opinions, that's already, as you would say "problematic". It's also interesting that if, indeed, the students who are POC , without exception, are calling your son out for having a "white savior" attitude, your thought is to post anonymously on a forum that skews decidedly white and UMC to get support for this viewpoint being problematic-- instead of trying to understand and directly address the attitudes and possibly the behavior that your son's classmates brought to his attention.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m truly not trying to start something, but as a 60 yr old liberal who sent my kids to public schools that weren’t predominantly white, and ended up with kind level headed young adults who i think/hope are pretty solid humans- one presented a paper on mitigation of gang cartels and resources in Central America etc affecting migration. The mom white students have gone after his ‘white savior’ attitude being ‘problematic’, now I’ve looked it up and there are real important reasons we recognize the difference between patronizing causes and championing. But are we getting to a place where it isn’t acceptable to represent potential solutions in a browner world without justifying why? Anyway, just wondered if anyone has found this labeling uh... problematic.

My kid who entered college wanting to do international humanitarian work has abandoned that goal because "you just can't be a white person in that field." Just being white and wanting to apply yourself to global poverty or women's empowerment in other cultures makes you a "white savior" apparently. I do think it is a cultural moment and that the pendulum will swing again, but it makes me sad.

I am a international development professional, and you can absolutely do this work as a white person. The idea that you cannot runs 100% counter to my experience in this field, my experience as a hiring manager, and a look around my own organization and those of our peers.

If your child didn't want to do this work, that's fine, but there's no nationality or racial check. However, as white people, we need to work hard to transfer power and authority to local communities, to lift up local voices, etc. That sometimes means that we (North American, Western European, white folks) end up playing a background support role to local leadership. That is as it should be.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m truly not trying to start something, but as a 60 yr old liberal who sent my kids to public schools that weren’t predominantly white, and ended up with kind level headed young adults who i think/hope are pretty solid humans- one presented a paper on mitigation of gang cartels and resources in Central America etc affecting migration. The mom white students have gone after his ‘white savior’ attitude being ‘problematic’, now I’ve looked it up and there are real important reasons we recognize the difference between patronizing causes and championing. But are we getting to a place where it isn’t acceptable to represent potential solutions in a browner world without justifying why? Anyway, just wondered if anyone has found this labeling uh... problematic.

My kid who entered college wanting to do international humanitarian work has abandoned that goal because "you just can't be a white person in that field." Just being white and wanting to apply yourself to global poverty or women's empowerment in other cultures makes you a "white savior" apparently. I do think it is a cultural moment and that the pendulum will swing again, but it makes me sad.

I am a international development professional, and you can absolutely do this work as a white person. The idea that you cannot runs 100% counter to my experience in this field, my experience as a hiring manager, and a look around my own organization and those of our peers.

If your child didn't want to do this work, that's fine, but there's no nationality or racial check. However, as white people, we need to work hard to transfer power and authority to local communities, to lift up local voices, etc. That sometimes means that we (North American, Western European, white folks) end up playing a background support role to local leadership. That is as it should be.

I think there is a disconnect between people currently working in the field and people trying to slog it out in school right now. A white graduate can absolutely get hired and successfully do this work. But, the intellectual environment at most colleges and universities right now is very toxic and I think it will continue to turn off students aiming to enter the field until the environment improves.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m truly not trying to start something, but as a 60 yr old liberal who sent my kids to public schools that weren’t predominantly white, and ended up with kind level headed young adults who i think/hope are pretty solid humans- one presented a paper on mitigation of gang cartels and resources in Central America etc affecting migration. The mom white students have gone after his ‘white savior’ attitude being ‘problematic’, now I’ve looked it up and there are real important reasons we recognize the difference between patronizing causes and championing. But are we getting to a place where it isn’t acceptable to represent potential solutions in a browner world without justifying why? Anyway, just wondered if anyone has found this labeling uh... problematic.

My kid who entered college wanting to do international humanitarian work has abandoned that goal because "you just can't be a white person in that field." Just being white and wanting to apply yourself to global poverty or women's empowerment in other cultures makes you a "white savior" apparently. I do think it is a cultural moment and that the pendulum will swing again, but it makes me sad.

I am a international development professional, and you can absolutely do this work as a white person. The idea that you cannot runs 100% counter to my experience in this field, my experience as a hiring manager, and a look around my own organization and those of our peers.

If your child didn't want to do this work, that's fine, but there's no nationality or racial check. However, as white people, we need to work hard to transfer power and authority to local communities, to lift up local voices, etc. That sometimes means that we (North American, Western European, white folks) end up playing a background support role to local leadership. That is as it should be.