Anti-racist group to hold call-out

A new student group, White Anti-Racist Allies, will host a call-out meeting at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Latino Cultural Center to increase awareness of race issues and help promote the agenda of various cultural groups at IU.\nDiversity Educator of the Office of Diversity Education Eric Love said he's thrilled WARA is forming on campus.\n"People of color are often in the forefront for battling justice," he said. "It's not a people-of-color issue, it's a societal issue. We really do need more white people involved in the move for social justice."\nThe idea for WARA originated last spring when several campus groups co-sponsored a retreat to discuss ideas of race. The group's mission is "to provide a space for white students to engage in anti-racism work," according to a release provided by the group. Senior Megan Selby is an organizer for the group and wants people to be aware of its purpose. \n"It's not just a group for white people," Selby said. "It's to get white people involved in anti-racism and understanding issues such as race." She said the primary focus of WARA is to collaborate with campus cultural groups to promote the cultural group's agendas and adopt them as their own.\nWARA's faculty sponsor, Barry Magee, is the Residential Programs and Services assistant director for diversity education. \n"The group represents an opportunity for white students to continue learning about what it means to be white, and to also be allies for people of color on campus," Magee said. "It's a two-prong thing: to increase awareness of diversity on campus, and to try to change the climate on campus so that it is more conducive for everyone."\nMagee said the role of WARA as an ally must be emphasized. \n"Being an ally means we have to listen to other groups and try to achieve what they want, as opposed to what we want," he said. \nSelby said since WARA is still in the early stages of forming, it is difficult to know the specifics of planned activities. In general, she thinks it will sponsor educational events and hold regular meetings to discuss topics like white privilege, race in the U.S. prison system and race in schools. She also said the group plans to take action and hopes to make an impact on policy and general culture.\n"A lot of white people have the privilege of going through their life without recognizing that there are still racial issues and inequalities in the world," Selby said. "We want to (inform) white students who might otherwise not encounter those first hand, and (give them an opportunity) to do something about them." \nMagee wants white students to realize the importance of their roles in promoting anti-racism. \n"(There is) no such thing as a passive anti-racist," he said. "If you see an issue and you do nothing about it, then you're colluding with the racists."\nMagee added he thinks white students feel excluded from the conversation on diversity and hopes WARA will give white students a vested interest in diversity.\nLove said he liked that the word "white" is in the WARA group title. \n"White people are part of the diversity equation," he said. "We need everybody working to make a difference"