Unlike the usual lectures given on the multiculturalism of St. Olaf, Tim Wise made three guest appearances last Tuesday that challenged the campusšs white population to consider themselves as African-American.

After his speech entitled "White Privilege" Wise took part in the Political Awareness Committeešs (PAC) dinner discussion and gave helpful input on how to expose the issue. He also took part in a panel with selected faculty. The speech focused on diversity in the curriculum and appreciating diversity within each other.

Wise is one of the nationšs youngest social critics to speak out on racial issues dealing with affirmative action and institutional racism. He recently started the Association for White Anti-Racist Education (AWARE), an organization formed to educate whites and people of color about the social and economic consequences of institutional racism.

He is also the author of Little White Lies: The Truth About Affirmative Action and Institutional Racism.

Wisešs goal was to expose institutional racism among whites. He began the discussion with a quote from James Baldwin: "Being white means to never have to think about it."

He maintained many whites, especially in white communities, do not understand why racism is a problem or why the issue persists. African-Americans and other minority groups, on the other hand, are known for openly expressing their feelings towards the issue.

Wise also asked the question, "What do you like about being white?" Ethnic groups have to think about it all the time because they are faced with this issue everyday. A better way to think about it is putting yourself in the opposite situation. How would whites feel if they had to live in an African-American or Asian setting?

Wise describes himself as a radical, "focusing on the perpetrator." He believes that approaching the root of the problem will help to solve the problem. Wise realizes that racism has been an issue in the United States for years. He believes that no one has listened to the countless number of African-Americans and members of other minority groups who have consistently spoken out on this issue.

Wise went on with statistics showing the amount of income earned by African-Americans and the sums of money denied to them every year in this country.

Wise described sympathetic behavior towards blacks as liberal pity. Oppressed groups are looked upon as victims and people feel as though they need to "fix the victims of racism." Wise says that "guilt is looking backward, and we [whites] need to take responsibility for the legacy."

The beginning of the resolution is to acknowledge the problem. St. Olaf, as a community, has begun to conceptualize this absence of openness concerning matters of diversity as a whole. As Tim Wise stated, "Diversity has always existed, but not equality." The more we are educated about these differences that exist among all of us, the more we are able to see each other as equal.