Reflections from the Facing Race Conference

The “Facing Race” Conference sponsored by the Applied Research Center took place in Oakland, CA, on Nov. 13-15.  Billed as “the largest gathering of racial justice advocates in the U.S.,” the conference brought together a racially diverse crowd of people just a little over a week after the election of Barack Obama. 

There was a palpable feeling of excitement and energy as participants gathered for the opening keynote by American Indian author Sherman Alexie.  Alexie’s keynote was his usual mix of irreverent and biting humor, or what he calls “serious humor,” to illustrate hard truths about racism, oppression, poverty, and stereotypes.  Alexie told about his experiences growing up in poverty on the Spokane Indian Reservation and ultimately leaving the reservation to attend a “100% white” school, a journey that he chronicled in his book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.  He described himself as a “cultural schizophrenic” who can glide easily between the worlds of “Sherman,” the urban Indian, and “Junior,” the “rez” Indian.  At first, he said, he felt vaguely uncomfortable about his success as an author, but then he had a moment of epiphany during a book tour when he realized that “I travel the world telling stories—how f----ing Indian is that?!”  He also caused a stir among conference participants when he asserted that poor white people have less privilege than “rich” (by his own admission) people of color like him and said that he believes that affirmative action should be based on class, not race.

To get a little taste of the conference, here's Riku Sen's address at the Facing Race Conference opning: