The University of Wisconsin in Madison has added a new course to their academic roster. While some are intrigued by the course, it has some people feeling uneasy. The class is taught in the African Studies Department and tackles the ideology of white privilege.

Next semester Professor Damon Sajnani’s course, “The Problem of Whiteness,” will meet once a week and students will learn about the problems white people caused and how those problems affect us now. He is teaching this course at a university where only 2 percent of the student body is black while 75 percent is white.

Republican legislator, David Murphy, is outraged because in his words taxpayers “are expected to pay for this garbage.” He believes the university’s course is teaching students “that white people are racist.” When the truth is this country was founded on racist and barbaric principles and we constantly sugar coat that fact. This country’s history is truly ugly and it’s time to stop pretending like it’s not.

While Murphy is completely up in arms about the course and is questioning the judgement of the university’s leaders, Republican Governor Scott Walker believes there are bigger fish to fry.   “I could certainly as a citizen or as a father who pays part of my kids’ tuition roll my eyes and raise concerns about some of the classes,” Walker told the Wisconsin State Journal.

“But our focus in the budget should be on overall performance and not individual classes.”

There are a lot of other “controversial” topic that other colleges and universities have added to their roster that address the LGBT community. We tend to embrace these topics more open heartedly than we do race issues.

Race has been a problem since the beginning of time and will continue to be an issue until people stop avoiding the topic.

The University of Wisconsin in Madison released a statement saying, “We believe this course, which is one of thousands offered at our university, will benefit students who are interested in developing a deeper understanding of race issues.” They also believe, “The course is a challenge and response to racism of all kinds.”