Professor Watchlist

Karsonya “Kaye” Wise Whitehead is a Professor of Communication and African and African American Studies at Loyola University Maryland. Whitehead’s faculty profile says “her scholarship examines the ways race, class and gender coalesce in American classrooms as well as in political and social environments.”

Whitehead is the author of several published works. In her book “Letters to My Black Sons: Raising Boys in a Post-Racial America,” she wrote:

“The spread of COVID-19 has challenged us, sheltered us, sickened us, and in some cases, it has killed us. It has disproportionately impacted the black community and has laid bare the real impact of white supremacy on our community…a cold fear set over me because if white America was in a pandemic, black America was in a syndemic.”

Whitehead is also the founder and executive director of the Karson Institute for Race, Peace and Social Justice. The Institute’s “About” page says, “We are aware that there are a multitude of issues facing our communities but by narrowly focusing our efforts on racial, social, and healing justice, The Institute ultimately seeks to counteract the type of ‘miseducation’ that Carter G. Woodson discussed in his book, The Miseducation of the Negro.”

Karson Institute’s lesson plan includes the course “Exploring the ‘Crisis’ in Black Education from a Post-White Orientation.” The curriculum description says:

“By middle school and high school, children have had very sophisticated experiences with race, but typically have not been adequately supported as they navigate both normative human development and race production in their lives.”

In a 2016 interview with Black Perspectives, White was asked about the most challenging and rewarding aspects of academic leadership. According to the transcript, she responded that “in the age of Black Lives Matter her work cannot stay in the ivory tower.” She went on to state that she must “bend [her] privilege and be deeply engaged in the conversations and work that is happening within our communities.”

In 2023, Whitehead published an article entitled “Commentary: National Women’s Studies Association [NWSA] won’t be overshadowed by White Nationalism.” She wrote that the NWSA “has been alarmed, angered and frustrated by the legislative efforts of the Republican party to limit our academic freedom, censor the teaching of African-American, gender and queer studies.” 

Whitehead continued:

“The attack is personal. It is rooted in anti-black racism, patriarchy, transphobia, whiteness and xenophobia, and it is a propagandist argument designed to whitewash our collective history. We are clearly under attack…

“The attacks against critical race theory and intersectionality, coupled with the international campaign to reframe the term ‘wokeness’ as a veiled slur against black, brown and other marginalized people, are reminders that in this country…the classroom remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy.”

Whitehead published another article titled “Repeal The Damn Second Amendment,” where she stated “[w]e live in a country that has more guns than people” and that politicians “don’t seem to have the testicular fortitude needed to repeal the damn Second Amendment.”

Whitehead also wrote that in America, black people were “more likely to die from gun violence than from many leading causes of death combined.” However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number one leading cause of death for “Non-Hispanic black, Males, All ages” is heart disease, followed by cancer. Homicide is number four on a list of 10.

Published – August 7, 2023