Oct. 1, 2014

By Andrew Marvitz

A group of UW-Whitewater staff members raised the issue of racial topics before students, faculty and community within the Hyland building on Sept. 24. The panel featured biological, social-historical and literary perspectives on the subjects of race and identity.

Brett Woods, a biology professor, began the event with a lecture that explored the physical realities behind widely held notions of race. Woods came from a scientific position, founded upon the ever-growing understanding of genetic makeup.

Woods touched upon the famous research of geneticist Richard Lewontin, in which Lewontin found race to be an insignificant factor in the genetic differences between individuals. The audience also was given a basic lesson on biology to illustrate race as a social construct rather than a group of cut-and-dried physical classifications.

Professor of History Amber Moulton focused on the historical timeline of race and how laws and beliefs have affected it.

“Race shapes the distribution of rights and resources,” Moulton said, prefacing a long and troubled history, a history marred by episodes of slavery, segregation, internment and genocide.

Moulton depicted the use of supremacist ideals to establish the control of powerful institutions by excluding racial minorities, a prevalent phenomenon in racial history.

Moulton posed a question to the audience, “Would a world beyond any racial distinctions be good or bad?”

Tonya Kam, professor of English, discussed the significance of multicultural literature. Kam used literature throughout her lecture to illustrate the effectiveness of creative writing in portraying racial life.

One example Kam used was of a slave mother, Margaret Garner, in which the news headline was small compared to the art, which her true story inspired. The literature gave more depth to the tragedy.

Kam read a few poems aloud, highlighting the attention to individuality and unique detail poetry is capable of. The poems touched upon the meaning of race and its consequences in society.

Beth John, director of First Year Experience, talked about multicultural identity and experiences. The lecture explained the delicate relationship between race terms and identity.

With the number of Americans identifying with multiple races steadily increasing, the language we use should be given some consideration, John said.

Also addressed was the danger of offending people through exclusion, or microaggressions such as objectification and exoticization. John emphasized the value of avoiding assumptions when talking to others about their identity.