Racial (in)equality 101: lessons from (whitewashed) initiatives and policies in European academia

This is a position paper that draws on existing research, informed by insights from intersectionality, decoloniality, Critical Race Theory, and critical whiteness studies. Such engagement provided insights to examine my central concerns in this work: (How) are racial equality frameworks in universities’ policies/initiatives being Westernized and whitewashed? (How) can this Westernizing and whitewashing be resisted? To address these questions, the paper also draws on examples from a thematically driven literature review that is geographically situated in European higher education systems. The analysis develops and presents four key elements: decision makers, represented as Gatekeepers of the Status Quo; institutional commitments, as Status Quo Enabler Strategies; initiatives/policies’ frameworks of equality and inclusion, as Status Quo Convenient Equality and Inclusion, and finally, Vigilant Occupationism represents a possible path of resistance and hope.