Stockholm University student writes essay on 'Racism' of milk against coffee

A student from Stockholm University received praise for writing an essay on a "bizarre subject". 27-year-old Arvid Haag wrote an essay entitled "Black and White Drinks" that contained an "account of what happened in the early 20th century in the struggle between coffee and milk." The essay belonged to a subject called "critical whiteness studies," which states that white people are racists. The study is supported by a new left-wing group that is currently attracting attention across the United States.

According to a report published in Fria Tider, Hagg explained in his essay the effect of marketing on black coffee, as they have characterized it by highlighting the "black and exotic elements," and when it comes to white milk, "the local and white" have always been emphasized. In Sweden, courses in critical whiteness studies started a year ago, and Expo founder Tobias Hübinette has been a pioneer in this subject at Karlstad University. 

Student says coffee with milk is 'drink-based colonization'

At Stockholm University, a distance course named Critical Whiteness Perspectives on Nordic Culture was held, and the 27-year-old applied for the course. He said, "It was all based on the removal of the tax-free amount for CSN due to the corona pandemic. I thought it might be a nice addition to the household budget. To get something fun out of it, I thought I could sign up for a course in whiteness studies," reported the news outlet Fria Tider. He said other students who enrolled in courses seriously believed in what was taught. However, Haag was always critical from time to time and expressed himself during the group discussions. 

At the end of the course, all the participants were asked to write a paper of 10,000 characters. Haag said, "I took a rather bizarre subject, which is quite fun, and took another turn." He wrote, "The question one may ask is whether it is really a reconciliation between milk and coffee that has occurred or whether adding milk to the coffee is a way to take away coffee's unique properties and instead impose white properties on the black drink," calling it 'drink-based colonization', stressing that milk 'controls and domesticates' coffee.

However, when the essay went for correction, it received a B grade, or "very good." The course coordinator also added remarks, saying that it was an "exciting topic", lauded Haag for "creative thinking", and suggested that the text could be "expanded into a longer essay or essay". The joke went completely over his head. Arvid Haag told Fria Tider, "His only criticism is that I did not have exact source references in my photos." He added that it took about three hours to write the text, and he added links to books he hadn't read.

Image: Unsplash, Representative