Tim Wise Brings Racism Discussion to Sac State
Prominent anti-racist author and speaker Tim Wise spoke about the continuing reality of racism in the United States to an audience of more than 700 students at Sacramento State University Wednesday.
Wise opened his lecture, "Colorblindness and its Consequences: How Ignoring Race Deepens the Racial Divide," with a personal story. He told the audience about when he lived with nine guys in Louisiana and one of his roommates made a pot of gumbo but never cleaned it up. Wise said the gumbo sat on the oven burner for more than a day and a half before the mess and smell compelled him to clean.
"It didn't matter that I didn't make the mess. The only thing that mattered was that I didn't want to live in that funk anymore," he said, using that example to tell students that even though they didn't help create the legacy of racism in society, it is their responsibility to help clean it up.
"This legacy lives today," Wise added. "It is one we must confront on a daily basis."
Wise pointed out, as an example, that the majority of CEOs of top