CBH Talk | Racism and the Liberal White Illusion

Liberal whites do not, for the most part, consider themselves racist. Yet scholarly researchers and national commentators are now painting a new and more complex narrative, a narrative that might be dubbed “White Supremacy 2.0.” These arguments point to the ways that the liberal white creed of empathy can serve to derail racial healing and maintain systems of inequity, rather than moving us towards social and economic equality. They point out progressive’s “racism-evasion” and “color-blind ideology” which harm, rather than heal, the racial divide. These new frontiers in the race discussion raise ironies, prompt soul-searching, and challenge illusions. Dr. Angie Beeman, author of Liberal White Supremacy: How Progressives Silence Racial and Class Oppression, journalist Eduardo Porter, author of American Poison: How Racial Hostility Destroyed Our Promise, and others come together in this exploration and discussion. Moderated by Associated Press national race and ethnicity reporter Aaron Morrison.

Participants
 
Angie Beeman is an Associate Professor at Baruch College. Her research examines changing expressions of racism, the challenges of allyship, and building more equitable workplace environments.  Her book, Liberal White Supremacy: How Progressives Silence Racial and Class Oppression examines divides among progressives and the role of liberal ideology in preventing significant change. Dr. Beeman’s research has appeared in the Harvard Business Review, Forbes Magazine and The Wire. She is frequently invited to speak on the issues of racism, social justice, and cultivating inclusiveness in the workplace.
 
Eduardo Porter is the author of American Poison: How Racial Hostility Destroyed Our Promise. He is currently a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Latin America, US economic policy and immigration. He spent many years reporting on economics for the New York Times where he was a member of the editorial board from 2007 to 2012 and wrote the Economic Scene column from 2012 to 2018. He began his career as a financial reporter for Notimex, a Mexican news agency, in Mexico City, moved to São Paulo, Brazil as editor of América Economía in 1996, and then to Los Angeles to work for The Wall Street Journal in 2000. His earlier book is The Price of Everything: Finding Method in the Madness of What Things Cost.

Aaron Morrison is a New York City-based journalist whose work on race, criminal justice and grassroots social movements has been published by The Associated Press, the global nonprofit news wire where he is currently a national writer. His work has also appeared in The Appeal, Mic and a handful of regional newspapers across New Jersey. Aaron is an adjunct lecturer in the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, where he teaches a course about race reporting. He is a longtime member of the National Association of Black Journalists and has served on the board of the organization’s New York City chapter.