Whiteness in the Ivory Tower: Why Don't We Notice the White Students Sitting Together in the Quad?

Whiteness is the foundation of racism and racial violence within higher education institutions. It is deeply embedded in the ideologies and organizational structures of colleges and universities that guide practices, policies, and research. The purpose of this book is not to simply uncover these practices but, rather, to intentionally center the harm that Whiteness causes to communities of Color broadly in order to transform these practices. For example, Cabrera explores what academic freedom and tenure could look like if they actually divorced themselves from Whiteness. Cabrera also demonstrates how campus-based segregation is largely a problem created and maintained by White students, contrary to popular belief. Readers will dive into these and other pressing issues guided by both critical social analysis as well as hope for the possibilities of human liberation from oppression. This is important reading for university and college professors, scholars, diversity officers, student affairs professionals, and everyone looking for ways to center the needs of historically marginalized students.

Book Features:

• Extends the work of Beverly Daniel Tatum classic text, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?
• Explores what truly embedding antiracism and decolonial praxis into higher education institutions could look like.
• Uses Critical Race Theory to analyze the cause of racism and the effect Whiteness has on people of Color.
• Offers a critical but concurrently hopeful view that anti-racist futures are both possible and necessary.


Author: Nolan L. Cabrera
Publisher: Teachers College Press
Published: 04/26/2024
Pages: 192
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.60lbs
Size: 9.01h x 6.08w x 0.38d
ISBN: 9780807769164

About the Author


Nolan L. Cabrera is a professor of educational policy studies and practice at the University of Arizona. He is an award-winning author, a recipient of the prestigious education early career award and the National Academy of Education/Spencer postdoctoral fellowship, and an expert witness in Gonzalez v. Douglas--the case that overturned Arizona's ban on Mexican American Studies.