Western Illinois' National Day of Racial Healing observance features 'Racism for White People' lecture
The Office of Justice, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity will be observing the day for the first time by hosting various events that will take place from Jan. 16-30.
An event description indicates that 'most of us put on our armor so to speak whenever such conversations involve whiteness, white privilege, white advantage, etc.'
To commemorate the National Day of Racial Healing on Jan. 16, a university in Macomb, Illinois is set to host a series of events that include efforts to educate white people about racism.
Western Illinois University’s Office of Justice, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (JIDE) will be observing the day for the first time by hosting various events that will take place from Jan. 16-30.
The school will be hosting a “Racism for White People” event on the first day of observance, hosted by WIU professor of Sociology and Anthropology Robert Hironimus-Wendt.
The event description notes that “racism is almost always perceived as threatening to white people” and that “most of us put on our armor so to speak whenever such conversations involve whiteness, white privilege, white advantage, etc.”
The lecture will encourage people to put down their “armor” and explain how to “enlist [white people] in the fight to reduce racism in our presence.”
Another event, titled “Xenophobia,” will be hosted by associate vice president of Global Studies Randy Glean, who will explain how people can “embrace inclusion of non-traditional immigrants.”
The two weeks of events will close with “How to Combat Anti-Semitism,” presented by WIU professor of Religious Studies Amy Carr. Topics to be discussed will include “the difference between anti-Semitic and criticizing the policies of Israel,” and the question, “How has anti-Judaism been present in Christian imagination?”
In a recent local public radio interview, JIDE director Carl Ervin explained the need for the JIDE plan and compared the contemporary racial climate to that of the post-Reconstruction era.
“It’s sort of like that period right after reconstruction and things went back down and it took a while to come back up,” Ervin said. “I think we’ve gone back down now, so we have to interrupt that with these efforts we’re making now so that we don’t repeat that part of the past.”
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According to the National Day of Racial Healing website, this social justice project was launched nationally in 2017 by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and is “a time to contemplate our shared values and create the blueprint together for #HowWeHeal from the effects of racism.”
Campus Reform has contacted Western Illinois for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
