Diversity and inclusion are important issues that campuses often put aside.
While Western Carolina University lacks diversity in more than race, racial issues are prominent and time-consuming to solve.
WCU’s Joint Task Force on Racism studied the issue of race after several incidents in 2016, such as when racist comments were made from Scott Hall during the annual MLK Unity March. See the task force’s recommendations and the report.
Margaret Hagerman, author of White Kids: Growing up with privilege in a Racially Divided America, spoke to WCU community.
One solution to follow through on the task force’s recommendations was to invite more diverse speakers to WCU’s campus to help educate students and faculty in ways other than training. Dr. Margaret Hagerman was one such person invited to speak about racial issues.
Hagerman spoke with students and the community on her research discussed in her book White Kids: Growing Up with Privilege in a Racially Divided America. Hagerman ensured the audience that she wasn’t saying white people are racist, but that racism and racial equity are issues that must be discussed.
Changing the focus from minorities to shifting focus to the majorities, Dr. Hagerman’s research discusses the lack of and need for racial equity. This research said that the United States has an unbalanced structure system between the minorities and majorities that allow a race to determine someone’s socioeconomic status, according to the Center for Social Inclusion. According to the Center for Social Inclusion, racial inequity is an unbalanced system where race is a factor in one’s socioeconomic status. Because of this, when something happens in society the majority can feel secure while the minority has to deal with the impact.
Co-Chair of the College of Education and Allied Professions’ Diversity Committee Dr. Brandi Hinnant-Crawford gave her reasoning why Hagerman would be great to bring to campus.
“I was familiar with Dr. Hagerman’s work and thought she would be an excellent speaker to come and discuss one aspect of diversity—race. Often when we talk about race, we focus on communities of color and their perceptions on race. By doing so, we rectify the invisibility of whiteness and reinforce structures of power and privilege. Dr. Hagerman’s work is different in that she studies the racial socialization of white children that happens within the family unit.”
Along with Dr. Hinnant-Crawford, Dr. Kathleen Brennan, the Department Head of Anthropology and Sociology, said that she was excited about Hagerman’s arrival and that the research presented was accessible for students. While Brennan’s expertise in mental health research, she created the Joint Task Force on Racism Report with colleagues at WCU.
