The University’s Program in Racism, Immigration and Citizenship (RIC) hosted a roundtable titled “White __________: Naming Racism, Violence and Power” on Friday. The discussion focused on the effects of white supremacy and the impact of the Trump administration on systemic racism.
The roundtable panel consisted of Vice President of the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project (MLMP) Iris Barnes; co-Founder of The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism Heidi Beirich; and Marc Steiner from The Marc Steiner Show. The event was chaired by Political Science Professor Robbie Shilliam.
The panelists agreed that white supremacy and hate crimes plague American life.
Beirich explained that these acts and beliefs are deeply rooted in U.S. history and have remained consistent over time.
“This country has used mass violence against people of color forever and ever. We should never think for one minute that that couldn’t happen again. In many ways, it is happening in the form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes,” she said.
Beirich explained that although Baltimore is a major city with a black majority, it is not unusual that hate groups are based here.
“We find that hate groups actually gravitate to cities, even cities that have a majority of people of color, because you get whites that are disaffected with that, who do not like that there is power in the black community,” she said.
Barnes spoke about how hate crimes can deeply scar communities, even decades down the line, as she has learned through her work with the MLMP.
“Those communities still feel somewhat terrorized. They can still feel it. It doesn’t just go away without some kind of effort,” she said.
Barnes stressed that as long as the country refused to label acts of white supremacism as white, domestic terrorism, it would be hard to properly counteract racist movements and attacks.
“We don’t mind saying it’s terrorism when it’s someone from a foreign country,” she said. “We’re a country that doesn’t like to admit our atrocities that are performed on our citizens. We like to deny it... You don’t want to admit the problem, so therefore you can’t confront the problem.”
The panelists also discussed what the Trump administration has done to encourage white supremacy and racism in the U.S.
Beirich stated that she believes Trump’s racist tendencies mark a clear turning point in American politics.
“Until Trump, we didn’t have people that overt in positions of power. We didn’t have that kind of racism in open display and protected when it came to policy,“ she said. “But we should expect more of that.”
She expressed a deep concern that the administration’s policies would reinstate many instances of institutionalized discrimination.
“We could just as easily fall into those horrible years when policies were based on explicit or implicit racism, when immigrants were banned, when we closed ourselves from the world. I mean, this really is a pivotal moment. That is the agenda of Trump and of many other leaders of other countries,” she said. “We could backslide into policies like that... I feel this great angst about what’s happening right now and what this could mean for future generations.”
Steiner shared Beirich’s concerns about the Trump administration, urging attendees to fight against some of his policies.
“What we have, what we’ve fought for thus far, we can’t let them take away. We have to push it ahead,” he said. “This is a fight for our future and for our life. It’s a fight not to allow racism to be reinstalled as the legal watchboard of our country, and to build a different kind of America... No matter what society you look at, struggle exists. Nothing moves ahead without struggle, and so when you push forward, there is always going to be resistance.”
Barnes told The News-Letter in an interview that she was grateful for the chance to come and speak to university students.
“Ideas spread in a university setting and can get into the minds of the young people. I feel like the young people really have the power to make the changes, because this is the world they’re going to inherit, so if they want something different, they know how to make it happen,” Barnes said. “Just the fact that people are coming together and having these conversations means a lot.”
Associate Professor of History and RIC Director Nathan Connolly, who helped organize the event, told The News-Letter that the roundtable was very thought-provoking and well-attended. He said that the topic of white supremacy was picked to fit within the theme that this year’s programming will focus on — retrenchment.
Additionally, Connolly addressed that this event is impactful for the Baltimore community because of recent race-related movements, including the Baltimore Uprising.
“All of our events this year are thinking about what it means to try to mobilize against different forms of repression. We’ve five years removed from the uprising for Freddie Grey and we’re a century removed from Red Summer, so the program is geared towards thinking about how to push back against different forms of repressive power,” he said.
Sophomore Daphne Moraga, who attended the event, stated that she felt the discussion helped her look at the inequalities in Baltimore more clearly.
“Comparable to other inner cities, it’s somewhat of a dystopia when you wake up and are surrounded by empty houses... You see that living here, but I guess you just forget the toll that that takes when you grow up in it,” Moraga said. “I grew up in Queens, which is facing a lot of the same structural issues.”
Connolly said that RIC will hold several more retrenchment-themed events this semester.
He said that he is looking forward to the rest of this semester’s programming.
“It’s our job as faculty and as scholars who work in these areas to give people a way of comparing their experience to the longer history of struggle... but also giving them a sense of possibility and courage,” Connolly said.
He hopes that these events will encourage students and the University to take a more active role in fighting for human rights and against white supremacy.
“We are sitting at a time where universities in particular are going to have to be much more forceful and explicit about where they stand on human rights,” Connolly said. “I’m looking forward to a moment where Johns Hopkins University really assumes a mantle of leadership on human rights programming and education.”
