University Southern California Trojans
USC Hosts Educational Event on History of Race and Racism in America
October 26, 2020 | USC Athletics, USC Ripsit Blog
As part of USC's continuing efforts to support and educate its student-athletes and staff during a time of social unrest, the USC Athletics Black Lives Matter Action Team recently hosted a workshop with Dr. Ange Marie Hancock Alfaro on the history of race and racism in America.
More than 150 student-athletes and staff attended the workshop with Hancock Alfaro, who is a Professor and Chair of Gender Studies at USC and a globally recognized scholar of intersectionality theory, a framework for analyzing and resolving inequality.
Hancock Alfaro started the session with a quote from Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison: "The purpose of racism is distraction, to keep you from doing your work."
Hancock Alfaro said she invoked this quote because "our athletes are starting to tell us, 'This is not the kind of thing that we can just block out. It affects us in a whole host of different ways.'" Hancock Alfaro continued, "Even though the temptation is to say, 'Let's minimize this distraction' .... I think the other thing that we're hearing is that if we're not attending to this, we're not attending to [the student-athletes]."
On a broader scale, Hancock Alfaro explained how structural racism has negatively affected the U.S. economy. A recent Citigroup study showed that discriminatory practices have cost the economy $16 trillion over the past two decades. Hancock Alfaro also explained how homelessness, a huge issue in the Los Angeles community, has roots in slavery. After an enslaved person became too old to do physical labor, slave owners were legally permitted to kick them off the property with no support.
"Massachusetts and other states actually had to pass laws demanding that slave owners who wanted to 'free' slaves by kicking them off when they're too old to work actually have to pay taxes so that the government can help them out," Hancock Alfaro explained. "So the stereotype that 'Blacks are dependent on the government,' that's actually because of things that happened in the 18th Century."
After sharing historical information with the attendees, Hancock Alfaro pivoted to discussing how people can act as allies in the fight for racial justice and fielding questions. Trojans asked how they could keep each other accountable, how to approach people of color for perspective in a sensitive way and more.
Ben Easington, a running back on the football team who's a member of the USC Black Lives Matter Action Team and the United Black Student-Athlete Association, said that events like these are good first steps towards change.
"I'm always with it to continue the conversation," he said. "I think the changes that we're trying to see are going to be long-term. But the conversation getting started is a step that was not happening last year, and that's all you can ask for. I'm not asking to fix the world. There's a lot of oppression, racism, colorism, sexism that's been going on since 600 or 700 years ago. I can't sit here and fix it in six months. But the conversation getting started will continue to help."
USC will continue the conversation in hopes of making positive changes in the lives of its student-athletes and staff, and ultimately, the world.
"I want to thank everyone for attending this Zoom session and for the work we are continuing to do in helping to make Trojan athletics a more diverse, equitable and inclusive environment," said Julie Rousseau, the chair of the USC BLM Action Team. "Although conversations about race may raise uncomfortable feelings and emotions, we hope that by bravely engaging in these monthly educational workshops, we will grow and be more equipped as future leaders in our society."
More than 150 student-athletes and staff attended the workshop with Hancock Alfaro, who is a Professor and Chair of Gender Studies at USC and a globally recognized scholar of intersectionality theory, a framework for analyzing and resolving inequality.
Hancock Alfaro started the session with a quote from Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison: "The purpose of racism is distraction, to keep you from doing your work."
Hancock Alfaro said she invoked this quote because "our athletes are starting to tell us, 'This is not the kind of thing that we can just block out. It affects us in a whole host of different ways.'" Hancock Alfaro continued, "Even though the temptation is to say, 'Let's minimize this distraction' .... I think the other thing that we're hearing is that if we're not attending to this, we're not attending to [the student-athletes]."
On a broader scale, Hancock Alfaro explained how structural racism has negatively affected the U.S. economy. A recent Citigroup study showed that discriminatory practices have cost the economy $16 trillion over the past two decades. Hancock Alfaro also explained how homelessness, a huge issue in the Los Angeles community, has roots in slavery. After an enslaved person became too old to do physical labor, slave owners were legally permitted to kick them off the property with no support.
"Massachusetts and other states actually had to pass laws demanding that slave owners who wanted to 'free' slaves by kicking them off when they're too old to work actually have to pay taxes so that the government can help them out," Hancock Alfaro explained. "So the stereotype that 'Blacks are dependent on the government,' that's actually because of things that happened in the 18th Century."
After sharing historical information with the attendees, Hancock Alfaro pivoted to discussing how people can act as allies in the fight for racial justice and fielding questions. Trojans asked how they could keep each other accountable, how to approach people of color for perspective in a sensitive way and more.
Ben Easington, a running back on the football team who's a member of the USC Black Lives Matter Action Team and the United Black Student-Athlete Association, said that events like these are good first steps towards change.
"I'm always with it to continue the conversation," he said. "I think the changes that we're trying to see are going to be long-term. But the conversation getting started is a step that was not happening last year, and that's all you can ask for. I'm not asking to fix the world. There's a lot of oppression, racism, colorism, sexism that's been going on since 600 or 700 years ago. I can't sit here and fix it in six months. But the conversation getting started will continue to help."
USC will continue the conversation in hopes of making positive changes in the lives of its student-athletes and staff, and ultimately, the world.
"I want to thank everyone for attending this Zoom session and for the work we are continuing to do in helping to make Trojan athletics a more diverse, equitable and inclusive environment," said Julie Rousseau, the chair of the USC BLM Action Team. "Although conversations about race may raise uncomfortable feelings and emotions, we hope that by bravely engaging in these monthly educational workshops, we will grow and be more equipped as future leaders in our society."
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