Wise:

Mikaela Tierney

Egan Chapel was packed full of people – they stood by the doorways and sat on the windowsills, craning their necks to see the speaker at the lectern.

Tim Wise, renowned anti-racism speaker and author of four books, spoke at the University on Monday, March 23. Numerous University departments and organizations contributed to assist in bringing Wise to Fairfield, another stop in his national speaking tour. He drew a diverse audience; not only were students, faculty and administrators in attendance, but citizens of the greater community from as far as Stamford helped to fill the room’s seats.

Wise’s latest book, ‘Between Barack and a Hard Place: Race and Whiteness in the Age of Obama,’ was just released and was the main focus of his lecture. Upon beginning his speech, however, Wise mentioned that his newest book was not originally intended to be the subject of his lecture at Fairfield.
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nstead, he said, ever since being asked to appear at Fairfield, he had been planning to discuss the subject of his first book, entitled ‘White Like Me,‘ a memoir that concerns race and white privilege.

His plans changed, however, on Nov. 4, 2008 – the day Barack Obama won the presidential election.

The speech

Wise’s speech Monday night focused on the new ‘Age of Obama,’ especially on the allegation that since Obama’s election, racism and inequalities among minorities have been eradicated, leaving the United States a post-racial society.

Wise went on to point out the startling statistics concerning racial inequalities.

‘Poverty rates for African-Americans and Latinos are 2.5 to 3 times the rate of whites,’ he said.

He continued, mentioning that the ‘average white family has eleven to twelve times the net worth of the average black family[and] eight times the net worth of a Latino family.’

Wise was quick to note that these ‘inequities are not one bit different today than they were prior to the election [of Obama.]’

One of Wise’s most poignant points came midway through his speech, when he sarcastically compared the notion of Obama’s election as president suddenly solving racism to the election of first female Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto suddenly eradicating sexism and injustice towards women in Pakistan.

Neither of the events, he stated, could have such an immediate effect on the societies.
According to Wise, racism has been ‘standard operating procedure of dominant groups for decadesfor generations.’ Sudden change, he said, doesn’t exist, and is ultimately impossible.

Wise went on to discuss the significance of denial and privilege in America, especially in what he deemed ‘the age of Obama.’ He cited the restrictions placed on Obama during the campaign, such as accusations of playing the ‘race card’ or appealing solely to special interests,’ as significant barriers in achieving true equality and eradicating racism from the United States.

Student reactions

Occasional applause and shouts of agreement rang out through Egan Chapel in response to Wise’s speech throughout the evening. Wise’s style of fast-talking and hard-hitting statistical evidence and opinion won the crowd over – even if some members of the audience disagreed with his claims, the majority still greatly enjoyed listening to the lecture.

Briana Cronk ’12 enjoyed the speech and thought Wise was a very powerful speaker.

‘I agree with what he said, and I think it would be beneficial for more of Fairfield University students to attend lectures like this or attend classes on similar subjects,’ Cronk said.

Weronika Pleban ’11 also enjoyed the lecture.

‘It was very engaging and almost interactive, and it became a call-and-response situation at times between him and the audience. I didn’t necessarily agree with all of his points, but it was an interesting perspective.’

To conclude his lecture, Wise left the audience with one final point.

‘Change comes as a result of action, when people stop hoping and start doing. You have to make change happen.’