by Surah
Dr. Barbara Trepagner came to the University of Connecticut on Thursday April 14, 2011 and presented in Homer Babbidge Library about silent racism. As a self-proclaimed pragmatist, her goal focused on finding solutions and inciting hope in her audience. Dr. Trepagner gave her audience a brief history lesson, chronicling past racial events and giving her audience a crash course on white privilege. Her solutions and suggestions encouraged the audience to read more about racism, with an extra push given to those representing the Caucasian race in the audience.
This scholar defined silent racism as negative thoughts and images in the minds of well-meaning individuals about people of color. She claimed that this perspective “Doesn’t mean they are bad people, but we’ve got some work to do. We are part of a system that perpetuates racial inequality.” Dr. Trepagner went on to implore us to raise awareness to those who haven’t taken the time to acclimate themselves to the plethora of knowledge out there about race. While she highlighted the fact that these claims are not new, she wanted her audience to know that she was working towards recognition of these concepts in tandem with other researchers and empirical studies.
Don Imus’ racist rant was also referenced in her presentation. She noted that people can be racist without intentions or awareness. In fact, she went on to note that most people are racist but that “we don’t even see it.” This assertion was backed up by claims about informal versus formal teachings about racism. Dr. Trepagner mentioned one example about a Caucasian mother who pulled her young daughter across the street when an African-American male walked towards them. She noted that this ‘informal teaching’ affected this child’s future decision making, attitudes, and friend choices. This “everyday racism” as she termed it, happens all the time across the country in a multitude of ways that many don’t even think twice about. Dr. Trepagner referenced her empirical studies in which one African-American respondent noted that she was followed by store personnel. Dr. Trepagner asked the audience, “How would you feel if people saw you as a thief?” She went on to cite studies that highlighted the fact that there is no difference amongst shoplifting statistics except for the higher rate amongst older teenagers. Her reference to basically racial profiling spurred some side conversations but she continued on to speak about racial categories and confusion.
Dr. Trepagner catalogued the binary logic of how people think about racist individuals: you either are racist or you’re not. She instead proposed a racist continuum in which you range from ‘less racist’ to ‘more racist.’ She supported us in our endeavors to be conscious about the decisions we make as students, to learn our history, and to recognize our own racism. She ended by noting, “Racism is harder to see today” but she points out that it is definitely still present in our society.
As a Professor at Texas State University-San Marcos, she has received numerous rewards and written about silent racism for a broader audience. She was inspired by studying race issues because of her strong memories of being a young mother in a tiny Texas town in the 1960’s. Clearly, her reputation was communicated well throughout the campus because the room was filled to the brim, with students sitting on the floor and standing by the walls to hear her speak about silent racism.
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