University of Florida sociology professor Joe Feagin spoke to a crowd of 30 about how white Americans should prepare themselves for the future, when they'll comprise a minority of the U.S. population in a Friday morning discussion in Milton Bennion Hall.
"Most of white America is in denial about racism, but we know just backstage it exists in extreme forms," Feagin said.
According to Feagin, white Americans will be a minority of the population by the year 2050, and are currently minorities in several states including California, Hawaii, New Mexico and Texas. Feagin also addressed several excuses whites give in deflecting racist behaviors, including the perceived victimization of modern whites as a result of affirmative action policies.
"People like me who are white are supposed to be suffering drastically from reverse racism...this allegation would be hilarious if it wasn't so serious. It makes more sense to believe in the Tooth Fairy," Feagin said.
According to Feagin, blacks comprise 12 percent of the U.S. population but less than one-third of 1 percent hold positions of power.
"It's amazing how white men have captured terrain on this issue of reverse racism. I know there's tension between white women and blacks on the issue of affirmative action, but both groups are getting screwed by white men," he said.
Feagin also said that between the years of 1865 and 1930, 246 million acres of land were given away under the Homestead Act to struggling white families. Land, Feagin said, that was stolen from American Indians and built up by Africans through the slave trade.
"The Homestead Act is one of the great ironies of our federal government...It's probably the world's most successful affirmative action program and it was for whites," Feagin said.
Feagin said "slavery denial" is a common exit strategy used by whites when confronted with slavery issues.
"I guess it's hard to accept the reality of white oppression...the idea that blacks don't face racism today is one of the most ludicrous fictions in the Great South," he said. In addition to mainstream marginalization and denial of race issues, Feagin said the problem has crept into universities and colleges across the country.
"One of the ways racism plays out in colleges and universities is in a severe bias in curriculums that only examine issues in white society...a study needs to be done on mediocre white men because the term 'unqualified' never seems to apply to white men," Feagin said.
Feagin said U.S. history classes need to be restructured to address the truth of America's past.
"George Washington was the richest man in the colonies because he and Martha owned 300 human beings. That fact needs to be told in history books," Feagin said.
Feagin said multiculturalism courses also need to be altered.
"We don't just need multiculturalism education in this country, we need anti-racist education," he said.
abenson@chronicle.utah.edu
