Author and anti-racism activist Tim Wise shared his views on race relations in the United States at Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts Tuesday as part of UConn's Month of Kindness.
Wise is the author of four books including "White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son" and the most recent, "Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama." The lecture focused on the subject of the new book - the notion that just because Americans have elected an African American president it does not, as some believe, mean the death of racism.
Wise used a careful mix of humor and hard facts to drive his point home.
"It's easy to ignore [racism] in this so-called 'Age of Obama,' this 'Age of Oprah.' She could buy us and give us out to her audience, and it would be impossible to stop her," Wise said to laughter.
Even though Oprah is one of the most powerful people in the world, it doesn't mean the age of racism is over, he said.
Wise delved into various subtopics throughout his lecture, touching upon the history of white privilege, racial stereotypes, the government's role in elevating whites above black people and the lesser-known adverse effects of racism, but each section supported his thesis that racism is still a very real problem, and it's up to the current generation to fight against it.
"[We're] tired of living with the residue of the legacy that has come before us," he said. "We inherit the legacy when it comes to race. History isn't a video game that you can restart. We need to take personal responsibility for [our] unearned advantage."
Wise used an analogy to show how illogical the thought that a black president means the end of racism is. He said that if the same logic were used, it could be said that women and girls in Pakistan faced no challenges or discrimination anymore since Benazir Bhutto, a female, was elected Prime Minister of the country twice.
"We'd laugh at that claim," he said. "That's precisely the claim we're making - that [Obama] alone signifies that racism is gone. We can't extrapolate from one individual."
Wise also shot down the idea of reverse racism, bringing up many facts that refuted any claims. He discussed a study in which 5,000 identical resumes were sent out with different names - some that were more "white-sounding" and some that "sounded black." People with white-sounding names were 50 percent more likely to get call backs for the jobs.
If companies were discriminating against white people, it would've been caught by this study, Wise said.
There is a very distinct difference between having a problem with white people and having a problem with "whiteness," Wise - who is white himself - said.
"I'm asking white folks to stand up against whiteness," he said.
Wise said people today are at a crossroads. "We can't afford to go down [the same] road," he said. He urged the audience to pursue the road of ally-ship and solidarity.
If not, "we will be back in these rooms in 20, 50, maybe 100 years having the same conversation," he said. "And the risk and the consequences will be greater."
Students said they thought the lecture was informative and engaging.
"I think it was very insightful. I think it was a wake-up call to a lot of people, regardless of race," said Simone Hill, a 7th-semester finance major. "It was a call to action for all different races for us to create a new legacy other than what's been set."
"A lot of stuff he said hit home, and it's unfortunate that we have to have a speaker come in [to say these things]. We should be having these discussions all the time," said Shaylice Bragg, a 7th-semester human development and family studies major.
For information on more Month of Kindness events, join the "Month of Kindness" Facebook group or e-mail Sarah.Maltese@UConn.edu.
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