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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

Wise lecture confronts systematic racism

Anti-racism activist and writer Tim Wise speaks at the Whittenberger Auditorium.  Acknowledging white privilege in the media, Wise spoke of the modern racism and inequality.

Anti-racist speaker Tim Wise said the racial discussion between afflicted populations and the white population has become somewhat like a book club.

“It’s sort of like having a book club where half of the room has read 400 pages, and then the rest of the room has read the preface,” he said. “And then we’re supposed to get together and talk about the damn book.”

He addressed the issues of white privilege and “colorblindness” Wednesday afternoon in the Courtroom at Maurer School of Law on Wednesday afternoon. His audience was eager to listen.

Bianca Black, a third-year law student, said her main concern was hearing what Wise had to say about combating racial injustice and white privilege, especially pertaining to the law.

“I’m just interested in what he’s bringing to the table,” she said. “I know he’s passionate about it, and that’s very important to me. I came here with an agenda.”

Programming Director for the American Constitution Society Katie Cullum said the lecture attracted more interested students than expected. Among the interested groups is the Traditionalist Youth Network at IU, who protested Wise’s lecture yesterday evening.

“That’s been a good way to promote the necessity for these conversations,” ?Cullum said.

ACS collaborated with Black Law Students Association and Union Board to bring Wise to IU, which Wise said was an honor and a privilege.

Wise said white privilege was historically present in society, but also withstanding are the implicit structures that victimize minorities such as African Americans.

“Colorblind jurisprudence only looks at what’s right in front of us, what’s obvious,” he said.

Colorblind jurisprudence, or the way we approach the law, would be absurd because it leaves the subconscious structures in the law that cause systematic racism and grant white ?supremacy, Wise said.

Although blatant or extreme acts of racism still exist today, Wise said more covert acts have developed with time and become ingrained in society so the law might overlook them.

He said racism could shape shift, whereas the law is less flexible and cannot detect all of racism’s forms.

Though systematic racism becomes more difficult to find and prevent, Wise said part of the task is simply recognizing that it exists.

He said with that awareness, the courts might become more conscious of racial stereotypes that might affect their decision-making in cases dealing with race.

“Once people know how easy it is to screw up, they try really hard to get it right,” Wise said.

Putting that change in motion is something Wise said would not be immediate due to the nation’s history. However, he said conversations like his in the Courtroom on Wednesday are a good way to start.

“Unless we have this conversation about how we’re going to move American jurisprudence in a direction that recognizes the structure, that recognizes the institution, that recognizes the subtle ... then we’re going to keep having these conversations, and we’re going to keep being frustrated at the rate of change in this country,” ?he said.

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