A \u2063mandatory \u201cre-orientation\u201d for first-year University of Wisconsin Law School students \u2063last week included a survey prompting\u200b participants to share racial slurs\u2064 and instruction\u200b that colorblindness is bad and \u200bthat \u200dracial minorities cannot \u2064be\u2064 racist, according to a source who attended Friday\u2019s session.<\/p>\n

Like other\u200d euphemistically-titled \u201cdiversity,\u200d equity, and inclusion\u201d (DEI)\u2064 programming, the presentation \u2062on \u2062Friday preached the\u200b usual dogmas\u200b of Marxist-steeped<\/a> critical race theory<\/a> and \u201canti-racism\u201d \u2062that have \u2063infiltrated U.S. college campuses, the source said.\u200c These doctrines teach \u2064that the United States \u2014 particularly its legal system \u2014 is systemically racist, that \u201cwhiteness\u201d must \u200cbe \u201cdismantled,\u201d\u200d and that the only \u2063solution \u2062to past racism is reverse racism.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Colorblindness\u2019 \u2062negates the cultural values, norms, expectations and \u200dlife experiences of people of color,\u201d declared<\/a> one of the pamphlets that students \u2063were asked to review before the session. \u201cBy saying we are not different, that you don\u2019t see the \u2063color, you are also saying you don\u2019t see your whiteness.\u200d This denies the people of \u200ccolors\u2019 \u2063experience of racism and \u200byour\u200d experience of privilege.\u201d <\/p>\n

Students were lectured by Joey Oteng, who bills himself \u2064as a \u2063\u201csocial justice educator\/PhD student, lawyer, blogger,\u201d and \u201cEducational Consultant\u201d\u200c on his \u200d Instagram page.<\/a> Oteng became the dean\u2019s fellow for inclusive excellence at the Ohio \u2064State University Moritz College of\u2064 Law in 2022, according to the \u200bschool\u2019s website<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Sources say the DEI\u200b session, part\u200c of a\u2062 \u201cre-orientation\u201d for freshman law school students, was mandatory. <\/p>\n

UW-Madison spokesman John Lucas \u200ctold The Federalist \u2062the session\u2064 \u201cwas \u2062held in partial fulfillment of \u200bABA (American Bar\u200b Association) Standard 303\u2019s<\/a> requirement that law schools provide education to their students on\u2062 \u2018bias, \u2063cross-cultural\u200d competency,\u200d and \u2062racism.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

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Critics \u200bsuch \u200cas \u2062University of Chicago law professor Brian Leiter\u200d have pointed out<\/a> that the ABA\u2019s updated standards are, as The Federalist Society<\/a> paraphrased Leiter,\u200d \u201cambiguous, costly, burdensome, ineffective, risky, and counter-productive.\u201d\u200b <\/p>\n

Students Prompted to\u2063 Confess\u2064 \u2018How Deep Racism \u2064Goes in My Life\u2019<\/h2>\n
An official from the University of Wisconsin Law School\u200b did\u2062 not \u2063return The\u200b Federalist\u2019s multiple requests for comment on Friday. <\/p>\n
\u201cRe-Orientation is intended to do just that <\/em>\u2013 reorient you now that you have your \u200dfirst semester\u200b of \u200dlaw school behind you and \u200ca new semester ahead,\u201d wrote Lauren L. Devine,\u200b Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at the law \u200bschool, in an email to students. Students were instructed to review \u200ban article about \u201c28 \u2064Common\u200c Racist Attitudes and \u2063Behaviors\u201d\u2062 and complete a \u201cRace Timeline Worksheet\u201d \u200cbefore the two-hour-plus sessions. <\/p>\n
According to Devine, Oteng\u2019s presentation \u200bwas\u2064 a \u201cfollow-up to the DEI session\u201d\u2063 the \u2062would-be law\u2062 practitioners attended during law school\u2062 orientation at \u200dthe beginning of the fall semester. <\/p>\n
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My favorite \u200band most tangible resource has been \u201c28 Common \u200bRacist Attitudes & Behaviors.\u201d \u2064It outlines the\u2064 things\u2064 that white\u2063 folx\u2063 say, do, or believe; their meaning;\u200c their \u2063impact; and\u2064 how\u2064 to reframe for \u200c racial\u200c justice<\/a>. https:\/\/t.co\/hx4WjGC3wY<\/a><\/p>\n
I literally carry\u200b copies \u200dto hand out. \u200c pic.twitter.com\/uFgmQerL4f<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Joseph Oteng (@drjotengii) \u2063 February\u200b 28, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n