Taxpayer-Funded University Pushes Plan to Dismantle White ‘Family System,’ Cure ‘Whiteness Pandemic’

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities is under fire after a parental advocacy group exposed a university-backed project that openly targets the white “family system” and describes “whiteness” as a societal disease that must be eliminated through re-education and ideological conditioning.

The findings come even as President Donald Trump’s administration continues dismantling far-left DEI structures across government and public institutions.

Yet many of these programs remain embedded in federally funded universities.

UMN alone received $628 million in federal research awards in 2024.

The group Defending Education uncovered that the university’s Culture and Family Lab, part of its Institute of Child Development, hosts an entire resource hub titled “Whiteness Pandemic Resources for Parents, Educators, and other Caregivers.”

The premise is unambiguous and asserts that American children raised in white families are supposedly incubating racism from birth.

One line from the site states:

“At birth, young children growing up in white families begin to be socialized into the culture of whiteness, making the family system one of the most powerful systems involved in systemic racism.”

The resource demands that white parents “self-reflect, re-educate [themselves], and act,” urges the adoption of “courageous antiracist parenting,” and recommends that caregivers “listen to, take seriously, and follow the stories and recommendations” of Black Lives Matter while “humanizing victims of police brutality and racism — such as Mr. George Floyd.”

It also directs parents to openly political materials for children, pushing discussions about “race, racism, white privilege, and antiracism.”

“Whiteness” Treated as a Pathogen

Much of the material draws from a 2021 paper by lab director Gail Ferguson, titled “The whiteness pandemic behind the racism pandemic,” published in American Psychologist and dedicated to George Floyd.

The paper claims:

“Family socialization into the centuries-old culture of whiteness — involving colorblindness, passivity, and fragility — perpetrates and perpetuates U.S. racism, reflecting an insidious whiteness pandemic.”

It goes even further, referring to “color-evasion and power-evasion” as “pathogens of the whiteness pandemic” that white parents unknowingly transmit to their children unless they undertake the “preventive measures” of antiracist indoctrination.

Researchers assessed white mothers based on their emotional reactions to George Floyd’s death, suggesting that a lack of grief or a failure to discuss “systemic racism” with children might indicate complicity in the spread of “whiteness.”

Mothers who taught “power-conscious” narratives or discussed Black Lives Matter with their children were considered desirable examples.

The authors argue white students must receive mandatory racial ideology training “especially at a young age,” insisting that dismantling colorblindness requires not just saying “the right things” but learning how to “show up for racial justice.”

The research sample consisted of 392 white mothers, heavily skewed toward the political left, with 51% identifying as somewhat or very liberal, and over 91% holding a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Federal Dollars Fueled the Project

The paper acknowledges support from the National Institute of Mental Health, meaning federal dollars, approved under the Biden administration, helped fund the project’s development and publication.

When pressed by National Review, the University of Minnesota defended the initiative, claiming it remains:

“steadfast in its commitment to the principles of academic freedom.”

NIMH did not respond to inquiries.

Parental Advocates Call for Accountability

Rhyen Staley of Defending Education criticized the university for legitimizing political ideology under the guise of scholarship:

“This far-left programming at a major public university is another example of how ingrained DEI is in higher education and is not going away any time soon.”

Staley added:

“It is not only concerning that these programs appear to still be up and running, but that absurd ideas like ‘whiteness’ also gain legitimacy through dubious activist-academic ‘scholarship.’

“Universities must end this nonsense yesterday.”

A Larger Pattern

This program’s survival illustrates the challenge facing states and federal officials working to dismantle entrenched DEI bureaucracy.

Despite public rejection of these ideologies, they remain deeply embedded in university systems, often protected by tenure, administrative layers, federal grants, and activist academic departments.

READ MORE – Trump Admin Officially Designates DEI as Violation of Human Rights