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With self-deprecating humor and the flair of a favorite professor, Tim Wise spoke to about 150 members of Washburn Universitys faculty on Friday about bringing more equity into their classrooms.

Wise, of Nashville, Tenn., began his nearly two-hour presentation describing how he as a white, male student at Tulane University in the late 1980s experienced privilege. Those experiences, he said, got him thinking about his own white privilege and how he could start the conversations about race as a white person from the South.

My own white privilege allows me the flexibility to first of all, be in a lot of those rooms and have the opportunity to speak to mostly white audiences about the subject, Wise said. People of color dont get that opportunity that often and if they do get it, its a very short-lived opportunity because they get shut down or are certainly concerned that they will be.

Most of Wises presentation in Washburns Memorial Union touched on a variety of race and equality issues that academia should face, particularly stereotype vulnerability.

This phenomena extends to all institutions of higher learning and all institutions in general, he said. This has an effect on learning outcomes.

Stereotype vulnerability, Wise said, is essentially how a person performs in a domain where he or she believes there is a stigma attached to them, causing them to underperform because of the stress of the perceived stigma. He said the concept can have an impact on academic performance and graduation rates.

This is something educators need to know about, Wise said. Students of color are academically insecure.

When it comes to talking about race and equality in the classroom, Wise said students often feel they cant talk openly about the issues out of fear they will say something wrong.

We have to be up front, particularly when were teaching classes that touch on these really difficult topics, that this is not going to be easy and this is going to be awkward, he said. There will be times when I as the instructor, dont know how to push through the awkwardness and youre (the students) going to have to help us do that. That empowers the student. Discomfort is critical and its critical for you to model.

We have to be upfront that when we teach about these really difficult subjects, Wise continued. We all have a lens. We have to own our stuff and put it out there, then its not as frightening to have those conversations. That can be challenging in a time when truth is a movable thing.

Wise concluded his presentation by saying this is sort of a weird moment in this country to be an educator, maybe a weird moment to be alive. He said part of the instructors gig is to discern what are facts.

The purpose of an institution of higher learning is to search for truth, he said.

Terek Hawkins, a Washburn senior from St. Louis, majoring in education, said Wises remarks resonated with him as a black male college student.

I think what spoke to me in his conversation was the fact that when I do walk into a classroom and Im the only African-American student, especially in my education classes, that there is a perception, he said. I think it spoke to me that he said we all need to realize this perception and then talk about how to tackle it.

Washburn president Jerry Farley said having Wise speak to the faculty, students and the Topeka community Friday about difficult race and equality issues makes Washburn stronger as a whole and continue striving for diversity.

If were truly trying to be more diverse in our community, this is an opportunity to bring people in and get them excited about what we are doing, he said.

Danielle Dempsey-Swopes, director of Washburns Office of Diversity and Inclusion, said Wises appearances Friday are part of an ongoing effort to talk about race and equality.

Theres a lot of discourse that needs to happen about race and issues of social justice, she said. We can have that discourse civilly and productively and we can find common ground and we can find work for us all to do around these issues.

Contact reporter Angela Deines at (785) 295-1143 or follow her on Twitter @AngelaDeines.

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Using humor, Wise tackles race as a white man from the South ... - Topeka Capital Journal

Internationally-known anti-racism author and speaker Tim Wise will be at Washburn University on Friday to hold a community conversation on race and justice.

Bruce Mactavish, assistant history professor and associate dean of Washburns college of arts and sciences, said he first met Wise nine years ago when Wise was honored in 2008 in Topeka as an Oliver L. Brown distinguished visiting scholar for diversity issues at Washburn.

He comes armed with a great deal of facts, Mactavish said of lectures regarding white privilege and racism he has heard Wise deliver. Hell engage an audience in a way you just cant ignore.

Wise is well-known for his speeches on what white people dont know or understand about racism. In many of his lectures, he cites a 1963 Gallup poll that found 60 percent of white people believed African-Americans were treated as equally as they were in their communities. The same poll, he said, showed that percentage increased to 75 percent in 1967, the year before the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and before the Fair Housing Act was signed into law.

Even more tellingly, in 1962, fully 85 percent of whites told Gallup that black children had the same chance as white children to obtain a high quality education, Wise wrote in a national media opinion piece in 2015. Such beliefs might strike us as delusional in retrospect, of course, but thats the point: Unless we believe that white Americans have somehow become amazingly attuned to the experiences of persons of color in the last half-century (and more so than those people of color are, with regard to their own experiences) even as our parents and grandparents clearly failed to discern truth from fiction it seems that we should probably think twice before trusting white perceptions when it comes to the state of racial discrimination in this country.

Mactavish said he admires the way Wise can talk about the complexities of white privilege and racism.

These issues are hard to talk about, he said. Theyre hard to talk about in the classroom.

On Friday, Wise will speak from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. during the Washburn faculty luncheon at the Memorial Union. At 3:30 p.m., he will be the guest speaker for KTWUs Minds that Matter program at White Concert Hall. Wise will also have two book signings, one at Memorial Union at 1:3o p.m. and another at 6 p.m. in the vestibule at White Concert Hall.

Other sponsors of Wises visit include the Washburn University Foundation via the Ruth Garvey Cochener Fink Visiting Professors of Leadership and the Washburn University Office of University Diversity and Inclusion.

Contact reporter Angela Deines at (785) 295-1143 or @AngelaDeines on Twitter.

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Tim Wise, anti-racism author and speaker, will speak Friday at ... - Topeka Capital Journal

In this completely revised, Remix version of his highly-acclaimed memoir, White Like Me, Tim Wise explores how racial identity and whiteness influence the lives of white Americans, by examining how they have impacted his own life. Wise examines what it means to be white in a nation created for the benefit of those who are white like him, and how privilege seeps into every institutional arrangement, from education to employment to the justice system. Importantly, he also discusses the ways that white privilege can ultimately harm its recipients in the long run and make progressive social change less likely. Through personal storytelling and convincing analysis, Wise makes the case that racial inequity and white privilege are real and persistent threats to personal and collective well-being, but that resistance to white supremacy and racism is possible.

James Loewen, best-selling author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, and Sundown Towns calls White Like Me:

the most important memoir by a white person about how race and racism affect everyday life since Lois Mark Stalveys The Education of a WASP. And, as with Stalvey, after reading Wise, white readers are energized to join the fray and reduce racism in our society.

Author and long-time liberation activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz calls White Like Me:

A brilliant and personal deconstruction of institutionalized white supremacy in the United StatesIt is a beautifully written, heartfelt memoir.

And Publishers Weekly, speaking of the books first edition, called it invigorating.

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Tim Wise White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a ...

Tim Wise, one of the nations most prominent anti-racism activists and educators, presented at Emporia State University on Thursday. His presentation focused on social justice and equity.

Wise is the author of seven books, including his highly-acclaimed memoir, White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son, which was adapted into a 2013 documentary. His latest book, Under the Affluence: Shaming the Poor, Praising the Rich and Sacrificing the Future of America, was published in 2015.

The importance of looking at history when considering race relations and equity in the United States was a focus of his talk. Wise said white Americans typically wants black Americans to move on when it comes to the history of slavery, mainly because that history doesnt present a positive image of white Americans yet they dont want to move on from other bits of history that do present a positive image.

White Americans in particular are very quick to tell people of color that talk about the past to quickly say to them, Why do you have to bring that up? That was a long time ago, why cant we move on? Why cant we get over it, Wise said. Now this, I beg to remind you, is precious coming from white people because there is nobody on this earth that loves the past more than the white man.

We absolutely adore the past worship it. Thats why the Tea Party said they wanted it back and it does not point to the future. They believe the past is this splendid place. White folks love the past but they just love the pretty part for us the part that makes us special, that makes us feel better. We just dont want to be burdened with the less-pretty parts. The parts that people of color occasionally bring up.

Wise said if one does not understand the history and what came before there is no way to understand social inequality. He said this can be seen in regards to the Black Lives Matter movement.

If we dont understand the historical significance of police interactions with the black community, then the uprising on behalf of the Black Lives Matter movement will not make sense to you, Wise said. It will seem outrageous to you. Because people rising and expressing anger with police, if police have all been people that come to your neighborhood to get the cat out of the tree or take little Billy on a ride in their car to show him what a great job policing could be, it doesnt make sense. That is not the black experience with law enforcement.

When people get defensive of the Black Lives Matter movement and respond with all lives matter, Wise said that isnt acceptable because, in our country, all lives have not historically mattered. Our country has said all lives matter, but actions have told people of color that all does not include them.

When people say black lives matter we get defensive and say, Well what about us? Dont our lives matter? Dont all lives matter, Wise said. We have a long history in white America of saying all but not meaning it. Thomas Jefferson said, All men are created equal and endowed by their creator to certain inalienable rights among these including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but when he said it he owned over 200 human beings, so we know he did not mean it. In the 1880s when the first version of the Pledge of Allegiance was written and updated again in 1920 and 1954 every version ended with liberty and justice for all. That was written at a time when we didnt mean it. So when we say all lives matter and we have a history of not really believing our own hype and our own rhetoric saying all while marginalizing millions we are going to have to forgive black folks for reminding us all meant something else for a couple hundred years.

Wise ended his presentation by taking questions from the audience. During that time he encouraged those in attendance to continue having the discussions and to continue to advocate for change.

Earlier in the day, ESU released the recently approved Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan for the university. Work on the plan began in the fall of 2015 when the University Diversity and Inclusion Alliance was formed. The alliance consists of more than 50 students, faculty, staff and community members.

The alliance was guided by co-chairs Gary Wyatt, associate provost and director of the Honors College and Jason Brooks, assistant dean of students for diversity, equity and inclusion. The alliance was charged with reviewing university practices and organization structures as well as analyzing data and researching best practices.

By April 2016, the draft plan was completed and shared throughout the university and community. Input was requested and incorporated into the final plan published on Thursday.

The process for gathering input on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan was comprehensive and provided many opportunities for discussion and feedback, ESU President Allison D. Garrett said in her letter to campus.

ESU administrators have already implemented the following elements of the plan.

Appointed a Title IX investigator;

Created and filled the Assistant Dean of Students for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion position;

Increased diversity initiatives within the curricular and co-curricular experiences;

Created thematic learning communities in residence halls;

Enhanced marketing materials; and

Signed the NCAA diversity pledge.

A next step, Garrett said, is to incorporate the new University Diversity and Inclusion Alliance into the universitys governance structure. A work team also will develop core cultural competencies to ensure our students graduate with the skills necessary to live and work effectively as members of a diverse, global community.

ESUs Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan is available online at http://www.emporia.edu/president/diversity-and-inclusion.

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'Wise' words | ESU | emporiagazette.com - Emporia Gazette

Details Last Updated on February 9th, 2017 February 9th, 2017 Written by Chuck Samples

Emporia State UniversityBlack History Month celebrationcomes with a highlightof ESU'sfirst Social Justice & Equity Lecture.

Tim Wise, one of the nations most prominent anti-racist activists and educators,has traveled to Emporia today to speak to thepublicabout the importance of social justiceactivism. Wise's visit comes on the same day as the roll out of the new ESU's diversity, equity and inclusion plan. Jason Brooks, Assistant Dean of Students, indicated that thiswas just a happy coincidence.

Brooks this event, by no coincidence, takes place duringBlack History Month, a event Brooks says Emporia State prides itself on celebrating.

Wise is the author of seven books, including his highly-acclaimed memoir, White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son." His latest book, Under the Affluence: Shaming the Poor, Praising the Rich and Sacrificing the Future of America." The event will take place a 6pm, at Albert Taylor Hall, it is free to the public and does not require a ticket. Brooks said that this is an invitation to the table for everyone to sit down with Wise.

Emporia State University has its first Social Justice and Equity Lecture on Thursday.

Tim Wise, the author of "White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son" and six other books, will be the featured speaker. Wise has spent 25 years talking with audiences about racism and equality matters. His latest book, "Under the Affluence: Shaming the Poor, Praising the Rich and Sacrificing the Future of America," was published two years ago.

Wise has also made several network TV news appearances, including appearances on CNN, MSNBC, NPR, ABC and CBS.

The lecture will be at Albert Taylor Hall starting at 6 pm. The event is free and the public is encouraged to attend.

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Noted activist Tim Wise giving ESU's first Social Justice and Equity lecture Thursday - KVOE