March 31, 2004

Walter Williams addresses issues of race

Lisa Degenhart
Campus News Editor

Dr. Walter Williams brought the issues of race and discrimination to the forefront of discussion at Xavier last Tuesday.

His discussion, entitled “How Much Can Race Explain,” focused on why African-Americans have a difficult plight in America.

“Something has gone drastically wrong in matters of race in our country,” said Williams. “Problems will never be solved unless all of us reject the civil rights vision of race.”

Williams cited education as one of the largest problems for African-Americans. He calls the shape of inner-city, predominately African-American schools shameful.

“An average black high school graduate has the level of achievement that a white student has at the end of eighth grade,” said Williams, citing National Education Department statistics. “The high schools are issuing fraudulent diplomas.”

Williams’ focus on education was the topic of much discussion during the question and answer portion. Many of the questions regarded how to fix the main problems that Williams addressed, such as how to keep children in the schools and how to improve their learning environment.

He admits that he does not know the answers to all the problems of the black community, but he feels that they need to look for new solutions.

“We can’t make excuses; we can only make changes,” said Williams.

Xavier’s student body president, senior Natasha Hamilton, was among the SGA members in attendance.

“He had interesting points of view, but ultimately you take from it what you agree with,” said Hamilton.

She, along with many others, made their voices heard during the question and answer portion of the event.

“The point of these speakers, whether it’s Michael Moore or Walter Williams, is to encourage dialogue,” said Hamilton.

The Xavier College Republicans plan on bringing another conservative speaker in the future. They feel that it is important to get the conservative message out to the students on Xavier’s campus.

“Next year we hope to bring an even bigger speaker. People are already pledging money,” said College Republican chairman, senior Colleen Heister. “This was an extremely successful event and we hope to continue it for years to come.”

Williams’ discussion was sponsored by the Xavier College Republicans, as well as private donors. SGA also co-sponsored the event by giving the Club $4,000. Heister was notified on March 15 of SGA’s decision to contribute the funds.

“We were grateful for the money and could not have put on the event without it,” said Heister.

The group also put a great deal of work into publicizing the event.

They have been in the planning stages since the beginning of fall semester and are happy with the way the event turned out.

For information on upcoming events contact Colleen Heister.