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The first identifiable racist incident occurred four years ago, dressed in high-handed privilege and self-assured bias, and matter-of-factly spoken with cool, calm and ease. 

“A departmental colleague informed me that my hire was solely because of my race,” said Timothy E. Lewis, PhD, assistant professor in the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Department of Political Science since 2017. Lewis is one of many Black scholars nationwide selected to discuss racism in higher education by narrating their own experiences in “Being #BlackintheIvory: Contending with Racism in the American University” (a working title). 

“Higher education does not exist in a vacuum separate from racism in society,” noted Lewis. “As a matter of fact, higher education is a part of society’s racist structure, and in some ways works to sustain that very racism. My contribution and the works of other Black scholars across the nation will chronicle that racism in this eye-opening book.” 

Shardé M. Davis, assistant professor in the Department of Communications at the University of Connecticut, is the lead editor. Publishing the book, which is due out fall 2022, is the University of North Carolina Press. 

“I will tie in the relevant peer-reviewed literature on this ‘colleague,’” continued Lewis. “This ‘colleague’ is what scholars Dovidio and Gaertner (2000) call the aversive racist—the racist who is unable to see their own racism because of their prioritization of egalitarianism, but operates out of stereotypes and biases that devalue the qualifications of people of color. In this ‘colleague’s’ mind, the only possible way a Black man, particularly one several years his junior, could receive a tenure-track position while he remained an instructor was because of some adaptive affirmative action initiative that gave advantage to Black people.” 

Lewis details his chapter as follows:

• Encounters with racism are virtual guarantees for Black faculty at predominantly white institutions (PWI’s)
• Black academics should not be too optimistic about racially-positive experiences, even from self-proclaimed allies
• Black scholars should learn about aversive racism, and how it subtly manifests in higher education

“For the scholars reading my contribution, I hope they see the connection between lived experiences of racism and the peer-reviewed literature on racism,” offered Lewis. “For the general public, I hope to convey that education achievement and career accomplishment do not shield Black people from racism.” 

“The vision for Being #BlackintheIvory is to serve as a ‘love letter’ of sorts to ‘Blackademics’—individuals who identify as Black in the academy,” said Davis. “It is my desire that this book will allow for Black readers to read stories that resonate with them, furthermore grounding the fact that ‘Blackademics’ are not alone as we face anti-Black discrimination within academic institutions. 

“#BlackintheIvory will discuss anti-Black racism within the academy in a holistic manner, while specifically recognizing the themes of resistance, agency, resilience, recompense and retribution, as well as deep-seated trauma, stress, agony, professional precarity, hypervisibility, hypervigilance and pain, which Black academicians have faced at various points throughout our academic tenures.” 

Photo:
Timothy E. Lewis, PhD, assistant professor in the SIUE College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Political Science.