Hanover
“Clearly historical memory is not something we do very well, when it comes to issues of racial equity and justice,” said author Tim Wise, keynote speaker in Dartmouth College’s daylong celebration of King on Saturday. As evidence, he pointed to “the ubiquity of the red caps with the ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan” popularized by Trump during his 2016 campaign, a sentiment Wise said ignores the fact that, for people of color, earlier American eras have been characterized by oppression and violence.
As evidence, he cited statistics showing that non-white Americans are hired less, earn less, and die younger than their white counterparts, even when adjusting for factors like education.
“By 2050, half the country will be people of color. … If half the people are still twice as likely to be unemployed, that’s not a recipe for economic success,” he said.
Wise, a 48-year-old white Southern activist who bills himself as an “antiracist,” stood at a podium in the Oopik Auditorium of the Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center and blasted Trump in language that wrapped fierce antiestablishment ideals up in folksy turns of phrase.
“The whole history of America is rich white men telling not-rich white people that their problems are caused by black and brown folks,” Wise said.
Wise responded to a Saturday morning tweet in which Trump attacked U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, the last surviving speaker of King’s famed 1963 March on Washington.
Trump tweeted that Lewis was “all talk, talk, talk — no action.”
As was pointed out by many supporters on social media, Lewis received a fractured skull when a 1965 civil rights protest in Alabama was violently broken up by police.
“I’ll leave it up to you, to decide the level of vileness it takes to attack John Lewis for being all talk at any time,” Wise said, “but especially on Martin Luther King weekend.”
Wise was also roundly critical of the mainstream celebrations of King on the holiday, which he said paid homage to a milquetoast version of King that ignored his demands for racial justice, and embrace of democratic socialism.
“On Monday, you’ll hear it again. Watch,” Wise said. “The line you’ll hear repeated is that one line, from the so-called I Have A Dream speech, which wasn’t even called that at the time it was written. … We just know that one line, the one about judging people on the content of their character, not on the color of their skin, as if that’s the only thing the man ever said. … Most folks only know that one line because it’s safe.”
Wise said that the 1963 march was “a march for freedom and justice. The platform of the organizers included housing as a right for all Americans, healthcare as a right for all Americans.”
Attendees of the speech gave Wise rave reviews.
Etna retiree Brenda Nunally, who is black, said she wasn’t surprised by the content of Wise’s speech, but that she was impressed by his oratory skills.
“It was probably one of the best Martin Luther King Day speakers I’ve heard,” she said.
Ahmad Dbouk, a second-year Dartmouth medical student from South Carolina, said Wise’s speech gave him a complete historical context for how white-dominated culture has driven a wedge between blacks and whites.
“He really drew a lot of lines to the dots that I kind of had,” he said.
While Wise said that the current climate of racial tension is not new to the country, it has taken on an added dimension from a dramatic recent cultural shift toward multiculturalism and a downed economy in which many white working-class Americans are being confronted with the same types of economic challenges that blacks and Latinos have faced continuously.
“It takes place at a time when white hegemony really is being challenged,” Wise said. “It used to be … the idea of being white means never having to think about it. … Increasingly, I don’t think that is true anymore. I think people are being forced to confront what whiteness means.”
In response to questions about how to translate good intentions about achieving racial equity into action, Wise advised area residents to reach out to organized groups like Showing Up for Racial Justice, a national organization that has two local chapters listed on its website.
“It isn’t hard to engage in a conversation about race in the South. … Not so up here, even though it is the background noise of everything that happens,” Wise said.
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.