HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — Hope College will host a presentation called “Jim Crow, Blackface, and America’s Enduring Legacy of Racism,” set for 7 to 8:30 Wednesday, Oct. 30, at the college’s Maas Auditorium, 264 Columbia Ave. in Holland
David Pilgrim, Ferris State University’s vice president for diversity and inclusion at Ferris State University and Curator of the Jim Crow Memorabilia Museum, will be the keynote speaker.
A panel disussion will feature Hope Fred Johnson, Heidi Kraus, and Sonja Trent-Brown.
Jim Crow is a short-hand term for a racist system used to exploit, dehumanize and oppress African Americans.
Blackface and stereotypical caricatures of African Americans dating to the 18th century and have surfaced in college yearbooks across the country.
Hope College is not immune from offensive images and racist attitudes appearing in our history, organizers say.
Wednesday’s conversation will address what systems and conditions would allow such a long and pervasive history of racism in America, as well as the is the psychological and pathological impact on communities.
