University of Arkansas at Little Rock
March 29 @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am Free
Presented by Laura Casey
This year started off with a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and immediately, messages like “This is not the America I know” and versions of “This is not who we are” were being shared from prominent figures all over the country, particularly politicians of all levels. Ibram Kendi, author of the book “How to Be An Antiracist” dissects the problem with this messaging in his article “Denial Is the Heartbeat of America” – he argues that the heartbeat of racism, of this country even, is denial and describes how we must learn to move away from denial, especially when talking about the riots of white supremacy. Using his words and some outside references, I want to unpack what denial mixed with whiteness looks like. I plan to hold space for meaningful discussion around participants’ experiences of whiteness, whether personal to them or not, and confronting the denial Kendi is speaking to.