College Council (CC) will sponsor a new event called Social Justice Week starting March 25 to raise awareness about what some see as discrimination against minority groups on campus. In addition, activist and author Tim Wise will give this year’s State of Race talk on March 27.
Social Justice Week will also cover issues such as sexual assault and bullying, according to College senior and CC Vice President Stephanie Llanes.
CC is not hosting Social Justice Week in a direct response to University President James W. Wagner’s recent Emory Magazine editorial; rather, it is a response to occurrences like “The Dooley Show” controversy, according to Llanes.
College sophomore and CC Vice President of Programming Daniel Lim said CC decided to introduce Social Justice Week as a way to raise awareness about inequalities on campus and in society in general.
“[The events] were a catalyst to bring people together and really illuminate what’s going on here at Emory,” Lim said. “Now, we can recognize that it’s a problem.”
The new week was built around the annual State of Race address. This year’s speech featuring Wise is the 13th talk thus far and will take place in Cox Ballroom.
Wise travels the country speaking about issues of modern racism and white privilege. He has published a number of books – including White Like Me: Reflections on Race From a Privileged Son – which focus on a post-racial America and solutions to modern racism. He will be the first State of Race speaker who is not a minority. According to Lim, this was not a conscious decision, as he selected Wise without knowledge of his race.
“It was more about what he contributed to the anti-racism community,” he said.
Llanes, however, said she feels Wise’s racial identity will have an effect on the audience he attracts.
“Because he’s white, we feel like [Wise] is going to attract more students who wouldn’t normally come out to these events,” she said.
CC worked with the Office of Student Leadership Services (OSLS) to contact Wise’s agency called Speak Out.
Llanes and Lim said they believe covert racism is present on Emory’s campus. Llanes said the diverse group that attended Wednesday’s Rally Against Racism demonstrates how the issue is widespread.
Tickets will be available after spring break through the Office of Multicultural Programs and Services and other cultural groups on campus.
– By Rupsha Basu
The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.
The Wheel is financially and editorially independent from the University. All of its content is generated by the Wheel’s more than 100 student staff members and contributing writers, and its printing costs are covered by profits from self-generated advertising sales.
Want to get rid of racism at Emory? End affirmative action.
I don’t know why you would consider that racism when it actually is the opposite. Studies show that minorities are much more likely to come from neighborhoods where there is no chance for an education strong enough to get into a school like Emory. Affirmative action is the only chance that they have. I know because I came from one of those neighborhoods. Furthermore, after taking classes on the issue, I now know for a fact that if affirmative action was ended, schools like Emory would lose a large percentage of its minority population. So, honestly, what is the real racism here?
This is BS. “No chance”. Give me a break! You can just buy a book and study for the SAT on your own. If your school is too easy, you have more time to study and and prepare your applications. Also, if affirmative action was income based, it would mostly help poor whites and Asians.
http://bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2013/03/16/top-low-income-students-often-overlook-applying-better-colleges/g0RVDfBlA1mIUob6A1A4GM/story.html
Emory is a private school. . . affirmative action does not apply here. So, honestly?
Emory does has its own affirmative action plan.
http://eop.emory.edu/home/AAP/
So, let me get this straight: Social Justice Week “is a response to occurrences like “The Dooley Show” controversy”, which was apparently reprehensibly racist and single-handedly indicative of the fact that there are people who hate black people at Emory.
At the same time, per above, Affirmative Action is a positive policy for minority students, and ending such a policy would negatively affect them and might possibly be interpreted as a racist move.
But The Dooley Show was essentially criticizing people who oppose Affirmative Action, assuming the roles of characters (because that’s what happens on satirical news shows, turns out) who want to end Affirmative Action and comparing them to those same people who opposed the Civil Rights movement during the early half of the 20th century.
So how is The Dooley Show racist exactly? Seems to me that The Dooley Show is on the same page as this whole “Social Justice Week” thing, whereas people like Mr. Elephant are actually the ones the program should be focusing on.
“The goals function as flexible targets for achieving equity in the hiring and promotion of a diverse workforce, paying particular attention to race and sex.” The Affirmative Action Policy applies to faculty/staff, not students. Also, to say that minorities come from areas that have “no chance” at a good education is framing the discussion in a misleading light. Yes, minorities are more likely to come from under resourced schools and communities. This, along with entrenched institutional racism creates giant obstacles to attaining a good quality secondary and post secondary education. Though they may be giant they are not impossible. I have had the opportunity to know plenty of brilliant minority students that come from some of the worst neighborhoods. These students are highly qualified and may have benefited from an affirmative action program (as they can be more than a university program). Scream and cry all you want but this is not an equal or color blind society. It seems that people think that Affirmative Action means that unqualified applicants get advantages because of their skin color or gender. This is just not true. A simple google (or better yet google scholar) search can show you that even this idea of affirmative action (give minorities opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have) unfortunately doesn’t have any more traction in university recruitment or much anywhere else. It passed away quite a bit ago but the ghost still haunts some white people…
Part of the problem at Emory is people who don’t understand what Affirmative Action actually means (next to nothing) and uses their misunderstanding to justify their racism in thinking minority students do not belong in the place where they unquestionably belong. Has anyone ever questioned the ability of a white student and the legitimacy of their place at Emory? No. Are there white students at Emory who got in solely on the merit of their birth? Yes.
Give up the ghost of affirmative action and give up your entitlement and then we can have a real conversation.