Charles Gallagher Lecture (XC blog)

White Reconstruction in the University and the Transformation of Whiteness

into a Social Disadvantage

12:00pm at Vander Vennet Theatre

Professor Gallagher’s talk examines how recent changes in representations of race and race relations have made racial inequality invisible to most whites while simultaneously transforming race from an unequal power relation to one perceived as merely a style, symbol or purchasable commodity that has been stripped of any coercive or institutional power. He argues that this process has created a narrative of race where many now believe the desired goal of racial equality has been acknowledged, addressed and achieved.

Racism in the 21st Century. A conversation with Charles Gallagher
5:30pm at Conference Room A, B and C (limited space)

Charles Gallagher currently serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology, Social Work and Criminal Justice at La Salle University. His research focuses on racial and social inequality and the ways in which the media, the state and popular culture constructs, shapes and disseminates ideas of race. He has published articles on the sociological functions of colorblind political narratives, how racial categories expand and contract within the context of interracial marriages, race theory, racial innumeracy and how one’s ethnic history shapes perceptions of privilege.

His publications include Ten Simple Things You Can Do to Improve Race Relations, White Out, Miscounting Race: Explaining Whites' Misperceptions, Color-Blind Privilege and White Like Me?