"Excerpts from Dr. Williams' Address" (7:37)
Skin Color Becomes Shades of Gray for Author
Prior to the start of school, LSU’s class of 2010 had already completed their first assignment, reading Life on the Color Line by Gregory Howard Williams, author and president of The City College of New York. The assignment was part of LSU’s Summer Reading Program (SRP), which started three years ago and aims to create a common academic experience for all entering freshmen.
Each year, a new book is selected by the SRP Selection Committee, and the author is invited to speak at Academic Convocation and in small group discussions on the Friday before the first day of classes. According to Vice Provost for Equity, Diversity, & Community Outreach Katrice Albert, Life on the Color Line created a dialogue among faculty, staff, and students.
“The book’s influence and Gregory Howard Williams allowed
students the permission to discuss race, racial oppression, poverty, abuse,
and their fears about all of these without retribution,” said Albert.
“Williams’ gentle and authentic spirit, both in his writing
and his lecture, allowed the students freedom to consider and be thoughtful
about race, struggle, poverty, and the pain associated with all of these.
[It also allowed them] the power to act in more civically and socially responsible
ways around issues of marginalization.”
Life on the Color Line is the story of Williams’ childhood as he grew up in the 1950s. For the first 10 years of his life, he believed he was white. When the family business failed and his parents’ marriage fell apart, Williams discovered his dark-skinned father, who had been passing for Italian-American, was half-black. His family split up and Williams, his younger brother, and their father moved to Muncie, Indiana, where the young boys learned the truth about their heritage. Overnight, Williams became black.
Throughout the book, Williams recounts his journey living along the color line and illuminates the contrasts between the black and white worlds: one of privilege, opportunity, and comfort; the other deprivation, repression, and struggle. He tells of the hostility and prejudice he encountered from both blacks and whites, and the surprising moments of encouragement and acceptance he found from each.
“It has a message for every person of every age, race, class, etc.; no matter what point they are (at) in their lives. Yet, it is just the story of one man’s life. It isn’t a manifesto or a sermon or a call for a drastic revolution, he just tells his story and we draw our own assessments,” said LSU freshman Kendra Joyan Brumfield, who won the opportunity to have lunch with the author with her 200-word essay. Brumfield joined 11 other freshmen, who also competed and won the essay contest for a chance at some one-on-one time with the author at the Faculty Club.
Jessica Swiney, another essay contest winner, took the lunch opportunity to get advice from Williams.
“I wanted to meet Dr. Williams because of his experience in overcoming adversity. I spent a year during high school volunteering with AmeriCorps tutoring first and second graders in the projects. My inability to form a bond of trust and to communicate all of the wonderful things they could become was a constant question,” recalled Swiney.
“Dr. Williams helped to bridge the gaps I had faced when he told me first you have to develop a field of trust in the group before any headway can be made.”
Those words of advice follow Swiney as she continues her volunteer work with AmeriCorps.
“I was very impressed with the fact that many students had given serious thought and consideration to the issues I raised in Life on the Color Line,” said Williams. “The questions students asked showed me that they were willing to move out of their comfort zone and engage really difficult issues and try to find solutions. The willingness to grapple with tough questions that I saw at LSU gives me great optimism for the future,”
Life on the Color Line not only created dialogue on the LSU campus, but in Baton Rouge as well. Williams’ story ignited a community-wide book club titled One Book One Community. LSU partnered with Southern University, Forum 35, YWCA, East Baton Rouge Parish Library, and Cox Communications to sponsor the community events.
“By bringing this experience to the community at large, we are strengthing the ties between LSU and Baton Rouge and bringing the university’s mission of service to the public,” said LSU Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Risa Palm.
As part of One Book One Community, community readers were able to hear the author speak at a free event on Thursday, August 24, at the University Presbyterian Church. More than 400 readers met the author and participated in the talk.
Discussions inspired by Life on the Color Line will continue throughout the fall semester. For more information about the upcoming discussion groups, go to www.lsu.edu/srp.
Nancy Little |
LSU Office of Public Affairs
Fall 2006
