On Sept. 15, inside of the Emilie K. Asplundh concert hall at 7 p.m., anti-racist essayist, author and educator, Tim Wise, came to West Chester University to lecture to the community, students, professors, and individuals who traveled distances to witness this man lecture.
Tim Wise is known best for his consistent fight against racism and sexism. He is the author of five books: “Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority,” “White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son,” “Color Blind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity,” “Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama,” “Speaking Treason Fluently: Anti-Racist Reflections From an Angry White Male,” and “Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White.” He also has two of his own DVD’s.
The lecture began with an introduction from the WCU Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Jerome “Skip” Hutson. Mr. Hutson then introduced West Chester University Multicultural Senator for Student Government Association, Angelica Rivera-Ortiz. After these introductions were made Tim Wise made his way to the stage. Mr. Wise began the night with humorous antidotes from past experiences.
He discussed a variety of subjects; racism in the work place, racism in everyday life, discrimination throughout society, as well as a handful of many other topics. Tim Wise is known for his ability to push boundaries, and stand up for what he believes in. After his lecture at WCU, the crowd gave him a standing ovation, and his lecture was followed with a twenty-minute question and answer period, and later followed by a book signing outside in the lobby.
An idea of his message to the students was to be able to talk about our perceptions, and experiences amongst one another, no matter what race, and/or sex.
Mr. Wise will be conducting furthermore seminars at WCU throughout the year. These events give students of West Chester, and the rest of the academic, and social community the opportunity to learn something new, and be enlightened on various topics.
Everyone at these events is entitled to their own opinion.
The dates for these follow-ups are Oct 14, Nov 18, Feb 17, and March 23.
Each of these dates will include a different topic, and discussion.
These events give students of West Chester, and the rest of the academic, and social community the opportunity to learn something new, and be enlightened on various topics.
Meghan Nieves is a student at WCU. She can be reached at Mn763344@wcupa.edu.