The University of Wisconsin campus was host to two lectures on gender, race and economic-class issues Nov. 6 and 7.
The first lecture, entitled “Classless, Color-Blind and Gender-Neutral: How the Rhetoric of Equality Protects Privilege and Obscures Hierarchy,” was given by Paula Rothenberg at the Memorial Union Lakefront Café Wednesday night.
Rothenberg, a professor of women’s studies and philosophy at William Paterson University in New Jersey, is nationally known by her books “Invisible Privilege: A Memoir About Race, Class, and Gender,” “Race, Class, and Gender in the United States” and “White Privilege: Essential Readings About the Other Side of Racism.”
Rothenberg started her speech by explaining her feelings on the current situation in the United States.
“If you liked the election, you’re gonna love the war, and this time it’s your war,” she said. “[My generation] had our war — we called that Vietnam.”
Rothenberg went on to discuss racial inequality in society and how it relates to economic inequality. She explained that Caucasian households have considerably more money than black households.
“A median white household has eight times as much wealth as a median black household, and Hispanic is even worse,” she said.
She calls this situation “white privilege” and believes many of the problems we face are reflected in our national government, pointing out the vast majority of white men in Congress.
“When we look at the House of Representatives and see that it’s not representative, does anyone notice that?” Rothenberg questioned.
Rothenberg also believes President Bush helps what she sees as segregation in economic status, which she described as “the most unequal distribution [of wealth] in the world.” “George W. Bush proposed a tax cut where 45 percent of benefits go to the richest 1 percent and tried to get rid of the estate tax,” she explained.
Allan Johnson, a sociologist for the Hartford College for Women at the University of Hartford, gave the second of the two lectures Nov. 7 at Grainger Hall, entitled “Unraveling the Gender Knot.”
Johnson’s lecture focused primarily on gender and economic issues in the United States. He began by explaining the stigma of gender inequality in American society. He gave the example of youth violence in school, saying that despite a statistic suggesting white boys perpetrate 100 percent of major school violence, it is still referred to generally as youth violence.
“If we can’t talk about the statistical reality, it’s very difficult to get things done,” Johnson explained.
Johnson continued on the topic of “male privilege,” offering the statistic that two-thirds of minimum wage jobs in the United States are filled by women.
“[The idea of male privilege] is not a way to let good men off the hook,” Johnson explained. “We need to feel that we are part of the problem in order to be compelled to be part of the solution.”
Students who attended both lectures were pleased with the depth in which the issues were covered.
“I was very happy to see the two lectures like they were,” explained UW junior Tiffany Darvish. “Some issues were covered more thoroughly in the lecture yesterday, and others were covered more thoroughly today.”
