Diversity Event: Ending Racism in an Hour or So

“The pianokeys are black and white
but they sound like a million colors in your mind
From "Spiders web” 
― MariaCristina Mena

Last night I attended the diversity event at the Great Hall in the Memorial Union, "Ending Racism in an Hour or So" featuring W. Kamau Bell, host of FX's Totally Biased. 

This guy was seriously hilarious, but he made so many fantastic points and they tied in so well with our recent discussions in seminar.

One point he made was that racism is different now than it was when our parents or grandparents were young. Then, racism led to violent uprisings, protest, bloodshed, and unrest. Now though, Bell said, racism is more like someone says something and it makes you feel bad. One example he used to demonstrate this was posts from social media sites of things such as high school students dressed up as KKK members at a basketball game.

This related so well to our discussions last week as we wrapped up social media week. The KU controversy and ISCORE were prevalent in my mind as I listened to Bell's speech. He did a great job of keeping us laughing and relaxed. One of the points I loved the most was that he said that's how we have to address racism in America now. We have to approach the subject in a relaxed matter so that we can make progress before someone gets upset or misunderstood.

Bell also talked about the myth of "post-racial" America that supposedly began with the election of a black president. He pointed out that all you have to do is look at names of sports teams, marketing techniques, or even the categories we apply to ourselves on the census to prove that race is something that still plays a significant role in American culture. His argument wasn't that those things were necessarily bad, but that we have to recognize that they are there, they are a part of our culture for better or for worse.

I thoroughly enjoyed this lecture (and Katie's company there!) I'm glad I got to go to this event o fulfill my diversity requirement!