White Student Union’ coming to Georgia State University

It seems the white man’s burden has become increasingly burdensome in 2013. Especially for college kids

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It seems the white man’s burden has become increasingly burdensome in 2013. Especially for college students. The result: a small but growing contingent of “white student unions” sprouting on a handful of college campuses across the country with members eager to reignite their racial pride in an increasingly diverse world.

The latest such student group to take shape is located at Atlanta’s own Georgia State University, which arguably has the most ethnically diverse student population in the state.

GSU’s White Student Union is still in the early stages of development, organizer Patrick Sharp writes to CL in an email, stating that he “and a few partners” have been leading the charge until the upcoming fall semester when they “expect things to kick into gear” once an influx of students hits the campus. In the meantime, the organization has started a website. The first official post, dated July 14, features a silhouetted map of Europe with the title “It’s Time” and reads:

Black Student Alliance? Check.

Latino Student Union? Check.

White Student Union?

Every Panther here at GSU comes from a unique heritage. The WSU intends to give white students a place to unite and celebrate their own.

According to Sharp, the idea behind GSU’s WSU came from Towson University, the Maryland public institution where student Matthew Heimbach founded the school’s WSU. In a 21-minute documentary (titled White Student Union), Vice highlights the tension Heimbach’s group has brought to the campus since its creation in 2012.

White students make up 68 percent of Towson’s student body while black students compose only 13 percent. In a scene from the doc that feels like a buildup to the violent climax of John Singleton’s 1995 college flick Higher Learning, a black man on Towson’s campus likens Heimbach’s cause to the 1915 silent film often cited with rebirthing the Ku Klux Klan:

“You ever seen Birth of a Nation? he asks.

“I have seen Birth of a Nation,” Heimbach admits.

“You trying to rebirth some bullshit,” the man says.

On its website, GSU’s WSU says it will provide “a place for like-minded White students to come together and not only celebrate their common European/Euro-American cultures, but to discuss issues that affect white people in the world today.” What are those issues? Sharp writes via email: