On Thursday September 26, nationally renowned anti-racism activist and author Tim Wise visited St. Mark’s. He spoke with the faculty earlier in the day, and in the afternoon he addressed the entire student body in the Class of 1945 Hall. Using wit, insight, facts, and anecdote, he took his audience on a journey through the issue of racism in society today. He asserted that the first step on the path to addressing racism is an awareness, acceptance, and understanding of the prejudices within all of us.
Wise also discounted the notion that racism is “no longer a problem” or “not my problem because I didn’t start it; I’m not racist.” He urged his audience to “come to grips with issues of racial, gender, religious, and sexual equity, not because you are guilty of creating the problem, but because you may the last hope that society has for solving the problem.”
Everyone, said Wise, needs “to understand the difference between responsibility and guilt.” Each individual, he stated, has a responsibility to the greater community and society, and cannot dismiss that responsibility because others caused it or made the mess. No matter its origins or its current manifestations, racism is an issue which impacts all of society, and it is our responsibility to do something about it. “If we don’t do it,” he said, “we pass it on to our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”
Mr. Wise has spoken at almost 1000 college campuses across the country, and he has trained teachers, corporate employees, non-profit organizations, and law enforcement officers in methods for addressing and dismantling racism in their institutions. He is the author of several books, including White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son (2004), Speaking Treason Fluently: Anti-Racist Reflections from an Angry White Male (2008), Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and Denial in the Age of Obama ((2009), Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity (2010), and Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority (2012).
The presentation was well-received by the St. Mark’s audience, and after he spoke, Mr. Wise responded to several questions from students.