2008 Woodie Awards
The majority looks inward
Group of white men gathers twice a month on campus to examine issues of race
Nicholas T. Brouhard
Issue date: 2/28/07 Section: News
The police officer told him that this offense warranted a trip to the local jail.
A moment passed and the older white driver, who had forgotten his driver's license, started reciting his mantra inward.
"Warning. Please, just a warning."
The officer told him he should have taken him to jail for driving without a license. Instead, the officer just asked for his name. The driver takes a breath of relief.
The officer put his name in the computer, came back and told the driver to be a little more careful. Then the officer drove off.
This story was told by one of the members of a group of white men which meets on the second and fourth Mondays of every month to discuss racism and the challenges that minorities face in society.
The group members are men from the Corvallis community who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject.
"The first step to the path of understanding begins with ourselves," said assistant professor Kenneth Winograd, who is an organizer of the group.
The group meets in Education Hall, Room 129 to discuss racism in the Corvallis community and in their own lives.
They often try to reach out to minority individuals, such as friends and guest speakers, to hear first-hand accounts. Most of the members are shocked to hear the stories of the small indignities that shape minority's lives at OSU.
Their meetings take place in a vacant room furnished with a few tables and old wooden chairs. Most of them bring sack lunches and their briefcases, which reflects the time they are taking from their professional and family lives to examine the extra barriers minorities face in a society based upon a white majority.
Introductions and handshakes warm the room as the men take their seats, but there is a tense energy in the room.
The first topic to arise at the group's Feb. 26 meeting was "white privilege." The group member who told the story about driving without a license admits that when he was pulled over, he "caught a lucky break," but he also said he recognized that it was not all luck.
A moment passed and the older white driver, who had forgotten his driver's license, started reciting his mantra inward.
"Warning. Please, just a warning."
The officer told him he should have taken him to jail for driving without a license. Instead, the officer just asked for his name. The driver takes a breath of relief.
The officer put his name in the computer, came back and told the driver to be a little more careful. Then the officer drove off.
This story was told by one of the members of a group of white men which meets on the second and fourth Mondays of every month to discuss racism and the challenges that minorities face in society.
The group members are men from the Corvallis community who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject.
"The first step to the path of understanding begins with ourselves," said assistant professor Kenneth Winograd, who is an organizer of the group.
The group meets in Education Hall, Room 129 to discuss racism in the Corvallis community and in their own lives.
They often try to reach out to minority individuals, such as friends and guest speakers, to hear first-hand accounts. Most of the members are shocked to hear the stories of the small indignities that shape minority's lives at OSU.
Their meetings take place in a vacant room furnished with a few tables and old wooden chairs. Most of them bring sack lunches and their briefcases, which reflects the time they are taking from their professional and family lives to examine the extra barriers minorities face in a society based upon a white majority.
Introductions and handshakes warm the room as the men take their seats, but there is a tense energy in the room.
The first topic to arise at the group's Feb. 26 meeting was "white privilege." The group member who told the story about driving without a license admits that when he was pulled over, he "caught a lucky break," but he also said he recognized that it was not all luck.
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