Texas Tech University

The advent of critical race theory has created a resurgence of principles that should have died in the Jim Crow era. Students and faculty at Texas Tech University recently experienced this regression firsthand when they were forcibly segregated along racial lines during “anti-racism” training.

A video recording of one of the training sessions show a former university employee, Mica Curtis-Wilson, declaring that students would be sent to separate “breakout rooms” based on the race they listed on their registration—one for students of color called a “BIPOC affinity space” and another for whites called an “Ally affinity space.”

“We are breaking up into two separate rooms just to facilitate conversation…and also to allow those who identify with each other to be able to communicate ways in which we can be better allies in different spaces,” Curtis-Wilson explains in the video following the “Allyship and Co-Conspirator” section of the event. “The point of this is to be able to identify how we experience these concepts and ideas and deeply listen to others and how they understand these ideas.”

Research and Freedom of Information Act requests submitted by Young America’s Foundation uncovered that students were also segregated during training sessions on “Understanding Whiteness and White Allyship” and the “Racial Battle Fatigue.”

Information collected through the FOIA request revealed that the racial segregation of students during the training was planned in advance by Texas Tech administrator Jade Silva Tovar, Senior Director of the division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Internal notes taken during the planning process noted that Tovar “thinks it may be useful to have two breakout sessions (BIPOC and non-BIPOC) because the conversation between the two groups will be very different. To offer a comfortable and safe environment for groups to discuss racial traumas undisturbed, these two groups would be useful.”

The internal notes also state that these racially segregated sessions will provide a good opportunity to “Segway into white fragility.” “White fragility” is a racist term popularized by author Robin DiAngelo that is used to belittle whites who claim (always falsely, according to the CRT narrative) that they are not in fact racists.

Other aspects of the Texas Tech training also promoted Critical Race Theory. A graphic featuring an image of Klan members lists “law enforcement” and “immigration laws” as examples of “white supremacy.” Students and faculty participating in the sessions were asked to reflect on questions premised on the CRT-belief that all whites are racist and benefit from white privilege: “When have my racist ideas and actions affected others?” and “How have I benefitted from my privilege…?”

When confronted with evidence of the racially segregated trainings, TTU Spokesman Matt Dewey initially defended the anti-racism sessions as “optional educational opportunity conversations,” and refused to comment on the question of whether they violated federal civil rights laws. Within days, however, the university changed its tune.

“Upon reviewing materials from the ‘Deeply Rooted Conversations’ discussion series, we learned that some of the content does not align with our university values, and we have discontinued this program,” spokesman Dewey asserted.

As is sadly common, Texas Tech was happy to promote racially segregated instruction as long as it wasn’t caught. Texas Tech’s racially segregated “anti-racism” training is a disturbing example of the egregious infiltration of Critical Race Theory into our universities.