Anti-racist essayist to address audience in Atlanta this April – Keynote Speaker Tim Wise

The 2011 Leading Diversity Summit keynote lineup will include prominent anti-racist writer and activist, Tim Wise. Author of Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity, Wise is often deemed controversial in his approach on addressing racism and diversity in the United States. 
His stance on racism in the United States is that it is institutionalized, due to the ongoing effects of past racism. Wise argues that institutions have been set up to foster white privilege, and that even race-neutral policies contribute to racism and racial inequality today.
Since 1995, Wise has spoken in 49 states, on over 600 college campuses across the nation. He has also lectured internationally on issues of comparative racism, race and education, and racism and religion.

“One of the most brilliant, articulate, and courageous critics of white privilege in the nation,” stated Michael Eric Dyson on Tim Wise.

In addition to Colorblind, Wise has authored numerous books on racism, including:

• White Like Me: Reflections on Race From a Privileged Son
• Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White
• Speaking Treason Fluently: Anti-Racist Reflections From an Angry White Male
• Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama

Wise is a graduate Tulane University, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.  After college he began building his career as a leading anti-racist figure with his efforts as part of a campaign to defeat neo-Nazi political candidate, David Duke, when he ran for United States Senate in 1990 and for Governor of Louisiana in 1991.

In 2010, Utne Reader magazine listed Wise as one of the “25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World.”