MOUNT VERNON — Cornel West, Harvard University professor of Afro-American studies and philosophy of religion, will give the keynote address, “Race Matters,” at Cornell College’s 2nd Annual Conference on White Privilege on Thursday, April 19.
His lecture will be at 3 p.m. in King Chapel, then he will take questions and do a book signing. Admission to West’s lecture is free and open to the public. The Conference on White Privilege, with the theme “Understanding, Respecting and Connecting with the Changing Faces of America,” is expected to draw more than 350 participants who will attend workshops by 15 educators and scholars.
Harvard colleague Henry Louis Gates Jr. described West as “one of America’s most important public intellectuals.” West has written 15 books including “Race Matters,” a collection of essays on the racial discourse in America. His other works include “The American Evasion of Philosophy,” “Jews and Blacks,” “The Future of the Race” and “Restoring Hope.” As co-chair of the National Parenting Association’s Task Force on Parent Empowerment, he co-authored (with Sylvia Ann Hewlett) “The War Against Parents.” Another publication, “The Future of American Progressivism” (written with Roberto Unger), teaches how growing divisions in society foster despair and distrust that undermine the democratic process. His most recent publication, “The Cornel West Reader,” traces the development of West’s career as academic, intellectual and activist.
West was born in Tulsa, Okla., and raised in the Sacramento, Calif., area by a civilian Air Force administrator father and an elementary schoolteacher/principal mother. He went on to Harvard, graduating magna cum laude in three years. He earned master’s and doctorate degrees at Princeton University. He later taught religion and directed the Afro-American studies department at Princeton before joining Harvard’s faculty, where he is one of the first black scholars appointed to professor.
Eddie Moore Jr., Cornell assistant dean of students and director of Intercultural Life, organized the first Conference on White Privilege last year after he read a report from former President Bill Clinton’s commission on race. “White privilege” is a phrase that theorizes whites, as a corollary to their race, receive certain privileges not afforded to non-whites. The commission on race reported a continued disenfranchisement of and prejudice against minorities and the “continuing existence of prejudice and privilege” that purportedly has created a system that relegates an inferior status to people of color, compared to that of whites.
“This isn’t a conference designed to beat up on white people. It is meant to educate all of us about how we innocently participate in a cycle of hate, oppression, sexism, heterosexism and racism — all because of power, prejudice and privilege,” Moore said.
Conference speakers and presenters will include Ansa Akyea, actor and performer; Diane Finnerty, diversity resources coordinator, University of Iowa Office of Affirmative Action; Jennifer Holladay, program officer/editor, Southern Poverty Law Center; Lee Jones, associate dean, Florida State University College of Education; Victor Lee Lewis, founder/director, Center For Diversity Leadership; Traevena Potter-Hall, director, Iowa Commission on the Status of African Americans; Salome Raheim, director, University of Iowa School of Social Work; Jesse Villalobos, Iowa program director, National Conference for Community Justice; and Adrien Wing, University of Iowa law professor.
Cornell will host a dinner with West from 5:45 to 7 p.m. April 19 in Flint Dining Room of The Commons, featuring a keynote address by Charles Rankin, director of the Midwest Equity Assistance Center. Cost is $20, or $12.50 for students. Reservations and checks payable to Cornell College are due by Friday, April 13, to David Loebsack, Cornell College, 600 First St. West, Mount Vernon, IA 52314-1098. For more information call 895-4300 or e-mail dloebsack@cornellcollege.edu.