Spring Break
Film at Women's Center sparks discussion of race issues
Katherine Smith
Issue date: 3/27/09 Section: News
The Women's Center hosted a public viewing of Tim Wise's lecture "The Pathology of Privilege: Racism, White Denial and the Cost of Equality" Thursday night as well as an open forum for students to discuss their reaction to the film and discuss race issues facing our generation.
"We wanted to create an open space for conversation," said Allison Berk, a 10th-semester philosophy major, and a student employee at the Women's Center. "It's a taboo and awkward topic so it's good to provide a place for students to talk."
Wise is one of the most highly regarded anti-racist writers and activists in the United States. He has spoken at hundreds of college campuses and has written many essays regarding race issues.
"I was just here for my sociology class, but I thought it would very interesting to hear a white perspective of this issue, coming from a minority background myself," said Jessica Santos, an 8th-semester human development and family studies major. "I was happily surprised that he mentioned how white privilege affects people of color and whites."
In the film, Wise thoroughly addressed the problems of race that have yet to be solved. He explained how, in each generation, the majority race has failed to recognize problems of inequality and discrimination. According to Wise, in the '60s, before the Civil Rights movement, 90 percent of white Americans thought educational opportunities for white children and children of a minority race were equal. He went further to say that two-thirds of those same people polled thought that Martin Luther King, Jr.'s leadership in the Civil Rights movement was "too far, too much and too soon."
Wise brought up these startling statistics to prove that those not being affected by discrimination often underestimate current issues and problems regarding race. Today, only 8 percent of white Americans of an average income believe that racial discrimination and profiling are significant problems compared to an overwhelming 90 percent of minority races who think these are significant problems.
"We wanted to create an open space for conversation," said Allison Berk, a 10th-semester philosophy major, and a student employee at the Women's Center. "It's a taboo and awkward topic so it's good to provide a place for students to talk."
Wise is one of the most highly regarded anti-racist writers and activists in the United States. He has spoken at hundreds of college campuses and has written many essays regarding race issues.
"I was just here for my sociology class, but I thought it would very interesting to hear a white perspective of this issue, coming from a minority background myself," said Jessica Santos, an 8th-semester human development and family studies major. "I was happily surprised that he mentioned how white privilege affects people of color and whites."
In the film, Wise thoroughly addressed the problems of race that have yet to be solved. He explained how, in each generation, the majority race has failed to recognize problems of inequality and discrimination. According to Wise, in the '60s, before the Civil Rights movement, 90 percent of white Americans thought educational opportunities for white children and children of a minority race were equal. He went further to say that two-thirds of those same people polled thought that Martin Luther King, Jr.'s leadership in the Civil Rights movement was "too far, too much and too soon."
Wise brought up these startling statistics to prove that those not being affected by discrimination often underestimate current issues and problems regarding race. Today, only 8 percent of white Americans of an average income believe that racial discrimination and profiling are significant problems compared to an overwhelming 90 percent of minority races who think these are significant problems.
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