Black Women, Ivory Tower: Revealing the Lies of White Supremacy in American Education

by Jasmine L. Harris

A first-of-its-kind compelling exploration of what it means to be a Black woman in higher education. Black women are heading to college in record numbers, and more and more Black women are teaching in higher education. But increasing numbers in college don't guarantee our safety there. Willpower and grit may improve achievement for Black people in school, but they don't secure our belonging. In fact, the very structure of higher education ensures that we're treated as guests, outsiders to the institutional family--outnumbered and unwelcome. Dr. Jasmine Harris shares her own experiences attempting to be a Vassar girl and reckoning with a lack of legacy and agency. Moving beyond the "data points", Dr. Harris examines the day-to-day impacts on Black women as individuals, the longer-term consequences to our professional lives, and the generational costs to our entire families. "I want to arm as many Black girls and women as I can with the knowledge about these spaces that I lacked," says Dr. Harris. "By laying bare my own traumas, and those of Black women before me, I am providing them the tools to protect themselves, with an understanding of how deliberately many institutions will try to undercut them." Trial and error has been required of Black students to navigate systems of discrimination and disadvantage. But this book now offers useful support, illuminating the community of Black women dealing with similar issues. The author's story is not unusual, nor are her interactions anomalies. Black Women, Ivory Tower explores why.

Genres: Nonfiction, Race

196 pages, Hardcover

Published January 16, 2024

Reviews

[Griffin Wold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Black Women, Ivory Tower discusses the racism, classism, and sexism Black women face in academia. Examining academia through an intersectional lens, Jasmine L. Harris tells her story of growing up in the suburbs of Minneapolis, then graduating college at Vassar University, and eventually completing a Ph.D.

One of the ongoing themes she presented was that presence does not equal belonging. The way she discussed how this affected her life, particularly in regard to racist classmates, professors, colleagues, and students, was powerful. Not only were the facts and statistics she presented alongside her story incredibly insightful, but it was written beautifully and presented in an easily digestible manner.

In the last chapter, she mentioned that she might not be "engaging in activism," and this was the one thing that I had to disagree on. This book is both engaging in activism, and a call for change. It is a wake-up call for those of us who may never have thought about the ivory tower that is education and the ways that it has been set up and supported by white supremacist culture to disallow certain groups of people, Black women in particular, access to the benefits presented by quality education.

I will say that if you have never engaged with either critical race theory, intersectionality, or higher academia before, this may not be the most accessible book, as it does presume at least some foreknowledge of the continued racist, classist, and sexist society we live in today.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[thewanderingjew · Rating 1 out of 5]

Black Women, Ivory Tower- Revealing the Lies of White Supremacy in American Education, Jasmine L. Harris
Although the author admits that she and Michelle Obama came from upwardly mobile and intact black families, she doesn’t attribute her success or Michelle’s to that background, rather she spends the first 2/3rds of the book trashing their treatment by white supremacists. It seems it is in every avenue of life and effects them negatively. They share no responsibility for the outcome of their lives. She speaks of someone who wanted to change her roommate because her roommate was of color, but does not refer to anyone like my daughter, who actually requested her black friend to be her roommate! So, as a white Jew, I found this book to be racist. I have always felt like an “other” as well, but I don’t blame anyone else for my success or lack of it. Yet, I have been an “other” with a history of slavery for thousands of years, not 300.
Therefore, rather than knock the book, let those who wish to read it, enjoy it. I cannot go on reading about how awful white people are, when she graduated from Vassar, a school I could not afford to attend, and the three previous generations of women in her family all became teachers and graduated from college. My father had to quit school after the sixth grade, and my mom never attended college because her family also did not possess any ability to either pass on a legacy to her or to provide that education for her. Methinks her “innocence protest too much”, about her ability to accumulate any capital from her education or her ability to pass on a legacy of success to anyone from it.
I tried hard to keep an open mind while reading this book, because my aim in reading it was to gain a better understanding of the racial issues we are facing today that seem far worse than those in the recent past, but what I am reading is a treatise on her perceived white supremacy. However, I have never been a part of that, nor have I ever had the benefits she has had offered to her giving her a leg up she did not even appreciate. Rather, I have dealt with quotas and antisemitism and chosen to work harder to succeed. I have not advocated for Jewish-only schools or separate dormitories or safe spaces. Actually, I could not afford to live in a dormitory. In addition, I wanted to be mainstreamed and be an American, with no precursor to the word American. I did not want separate facilities to make me feel even more of an “other”, although it would have given me more power. I did not want power or special privileges. I truly wanted equality of opportunity, and not equality of outcome. This is not a book for people like me. I am sure, however, there is an audience for it.
The author speaks of being “the only”, in a room of others, and of feeling like the “other”. She thinks that she is the only one who feels that way, yet how does she think I felt in a Christian world? I was often the “only” in a room full of others, but why should I feel “other” unless I want sympathy or special privileges and unwarranted power? I chose to belong in whatever positive way I could.
Using other authors who have been called racists, to back her up, like Coates, Kendi, Wilkinson, etc., she directs the book only to those who feel cheated by life, and only to those of color. Yet, she has accomplished far more than I was able to at her age, and it wasn’t for lack of trying. The author does not appreciate her accomplishments and her ability to navigate a system she rails against. She should not complain about the road taken, but she should be happy about her accomplishments when she arrived at her destination. She should encourage others with positive approaches, rather than looking to cast blame on others for the failure of some in her community. They chose their path, as well.
The author graduated from Vassar and is a professor there promoting black studies. I, on the other hand, am witnessing students marching against the Jews and demanding the annihilation of Israel. I am witnessing the intimidation of Jews on campus, the world she is part of, and the support of this intimidation often comes from her demographic. Yet, it is she who feels short-changed by the white world and I am not allowed to feel that way about hers without being called a racist.
In every example she provides, she trashes white institutions as racist and never gives both sides of the story in any incident, but immediately assumes the results were racist. White people have been in America far longer than black people. That is one of the reasons there are greater numbers of successful white people, aside from the issue of slavery and the prevention of people of color from getting a good education or to own property, wherever they wished. I suffered the same indignities. Yet she trashes me as a white woman who has made her feel like an “other”.
Yes, the system was flawed, and it still is, but it had improved in what was historically, a brief period of time, improved that is, until a President proceeded to divide us by our identity.
Why did one group prosper and another fail? You cannot blame it all on racism, some of the blame is on the shoulders of the people of color. In many instances, because the immediate cry was racism, even in the face of incompetence, job security and options became limited. Also, not all black teachers lost employment when the school system was integrated, but you can’t have it both ways. You can’t demand integration, and then demand all the teachers be employed in fewer places if fewer staff is needed. Those in place remained. I do not think that they lost their jobs because of racism or that it was intentional. I do think that when the demand was made for schools to close and to offer equal education to all which was appropriate and well deserved, the system should have provided options for the teachers who became unemployed when their schools closed down because of lack of attendance.
Still, today, look at reality. On television shows, news programs, talk shows, in ads, in the government, in the sports and entertainment world, black people are in positions of power and are actually in greater numbers, and are often excused of their own racist views and comments. The author spins the egregious behavior by white society to make it seem worse than it is, for instance, she writes that less than 10% of black students are in elite schools, but they are only 13% of the population. That is a great percentage for any demographic. I could cite further examples, but I do not wish to critique the book further. I cannot continue to read a book that is so anti-white. The message is repetitively hostile and the tone is disappointing to me. Regardless of the issue, it is interpreted to make the people of her demographic the victims of white supremacy. The author does not seem to want to unite us, but to divide us further.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book. It is well written with hard facts, stories from Harris’ life and those who are in her family, and powerful analysis of structural, everyday racism. This book highlights what makes black women feel as though they don’t belong in these spaces of higher education. It is heartbreaking that some black women members of Harris’ family don’t feel comfortable showing off their well-deserved degrees, especially to those in their own family. This book cemented the significant impact of nuances of racism and micro-aggressions in education. My perception of the impact of reintegration has totally changed. I am entirely grateful to have had the opportunity to see and listen to Harris speak about this book and read her work.

On a separate note, I am overwhelmingly embarrassed and disappointed to see white people giving bad reviews to this book because of their white fragility. Harris clearly states this book’s audience is black people. As a white person you do not pick up a book about racism if you can’t handle the truth. Not to mention, white people reading this book who are personally offended making poor reviews for this book perpetuates the silencing of black voices. Performative activism that turns into micro aggression? Especially those who said they STOPPED READING THE BOOK: you should be embarrassed by your undeniably public display of white fragility. I hope to reach the white people looking to write a bad review about this book and those in this review section and their clear disrespect to the authors work.

Harris deserves to be uplifted for being so vulnerable and honest in this book. She is a black woman who chooses to be courageous in the face of constant racism. She deserves respect. Let’s reflect that respect with these reviews.

[Kylene Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read many books over the years on systemic racism and have learned a lot from many of them. I did not get that feeling from this one. Instead, I often felt that the author did not like white people at all or at least felt that we could not be good friends or ally's. It seemed that the message was that you, as a black female, couldn't trust any white person. That made me very sad for her and others in her life that might truly want to be her friend. This didn't seem to be a book on the systemic racism of the schools as much as a do not trust the white people at the schools because they do not want you there. I am glad I read it though because I didn't realize that is how some people think. I was raised in a military family around people of all cultures. I never thought someone didn't belong because of race or class. When I hear stories of blatat racism or classism, it still shocks me.

[Maggie Frymoyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a former student of Dr. Harris, I was eager to read her book, as her role as an educator transformed my personal intellectual journey. Harris details her experience as both a student and educator navigating PWI Higher Ed, an experience that is deeply personal to her.

Black Women, Ivory Tower is a well-written, well-organized text that can be finished quickly. Harris does a fantastic job at contributing her experiences of Black women in PWI spaces, while also proving to be informative to those who wish to learn more about her critiques of white supremacy in higher ed.

[Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I respect the authors’ story, her wisdom and attempt to “warn” BW about the dangers of Ivy colleges, I had to stop reading in the middle. The tone of the book seems like a form of self victimization by the author continuing on with how the colleges seem to have so many negative effects on her health yet she remains as a now employee. It’s depressing and don’t offer much hope or strategies to combat the problem.

[Kirstin Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommend for white staff and faculty as well as Black students with tangible examples and ideas about how to make survival on college campuses a little easier for Black women