Civil Rights Professor Forces College To End Racial Segregation Practices
Mark J. Perry is always prepared for a good fight. He is a professor of economics and finance in the School of Management at the University of Michigan-Flint. He is also known as the creator and editor of Carpe Diem, one of the country’s most popular economics blogs. In his spare time, when he isn’t blogging or teaching, Perry is battling civil rights in all forms. His latest battle involves Carleton College and its racial segregation training mandate.
Mark J. Perry is always prepared for a good fight. He is a professor of economics and finance in the School of Management at the University of Michigan-Flint. He is also known as the creator and editor of Carpe Diem, one of the country’s most popular economics blogs. In his spare time, when he isn’t blogging or teaching, Perry is battling civil rights in all forms. His latest battle involves Carleton College and its racial segregation training mandate.
Carleton College describes itself as providing “a true liberal arts education.” They say their “most refreshing characteristic is its genuineness and utter lack of pretension.” According to Perry, though, Carleton College was non-compliant in enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and he said so in his letter to the U.S. Department of Education. If you are unaware of what Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 calls for, “it prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in any program or activity that receives Federal funds or other Federal financial assistance.” The entirety of Title VI can be read here.
Since 2021, Carleton College has conducted Antiracism Training. Not only have they conducted it, but it is mandated by the college that all employees are to be part of it. You can see the description of said training as it is still posted on their Carleton College website.
The problem with this “mandate” in Perry’s eyes is that it promotes college segregation, racially speaking. He isn’t incorrect either. The theme of Carleton’s antiracism training centers around how white people can be better “allies” to people of color. One of the training’s previous sessions had attendees segregate themselves so they could better understand “what it means to be an antiracist community.”
To stress their college segregation point, the Carleton College website states that “All faculty/staff will need to either attend the live session or watch the recorded session each month.” They gave no wiggle room. In fact, organizers of the training sessions claim that any employee who says Carleton doesn’t have any racial issues are part of the problem. They say antiracism training will help fix this.
Perry sees things differently and put pen to paper in describing the why’s and the how’s to the Department of Education. After receiving his letter, the DOE did their due diligence and responded in kind to Perry’s letter with one of their own. Their answer may shock you. They dismissed his allegations.
According to the DOE, upon investigating Perry’s allegation against Carleton College, they found that the college segregation training was no longer taking place. Apparently, the college was well aware of Perry’s letter and intentions, and they decided to shut down their Antiracism Training on their own. However, they continue to promote it on their website.
Be that as it may, Perry’s allegations were dismissed. The DOE said in their response letter that: You [Perry] stated that the College held mandatory segregated monthly affinity groups for staff and faculty between January and May 2021 in violation of Title VI. During its evaluation, OCR learned from the College in October 2021 that it ended the antiracism training series for staff and employees, including affinity groups. The College informed OCR that it terminated the antiracism training program in May 2021 and it has no plans to continue the training or the affinity group discussion format in the future. The Department of Education’s response to Perry can be read in its entirety below.
Score another college segregation victory for Mark Perry. He knows the battle is never over and encourages anyone who sees a racially discriminatory Title VI issue to file complaints as well. “If faculty and staff at colleges and universities are required to engage in any illegal, racially segregated programs, they should file an internal Title VI complaint with the university’s Title IX Office and the Office of General Counsel, in addition to filing an external Title VI complaint with the Office for Civil Rights,” Perry said via The College Fix. Perry also says that if a person doesn’t want to take on the fight themselves, they can reach out to him anonymously and he will see if the complaint has merit, then move forward accordingly.
