Chambana Sun

As part of its post-election student programming and just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign devoted compulsory student “cultural programming” fees to host a program called “Talking with (Racist) Uncle Joe: An Interactive Exercise on Discussing Race with Family” on Wednesday, Nov. 16.

The event, attended by more than 50 students, was promoted by the university’s Office of Inclusion & Intercultural Relations (OIIR), which describes its mission as, in part, “to improve campus climate by providing transformative learning experiences."

However, the OIIR does not make clear how teaching students to engage in conversations with adult, non-student family members in an off-campus environment serves to improve the campus climate, as specified in its mission.

According to College Illinois, a pre-paid tuition program for state universities, undergraduate tuition for U of I ranges from $15,698 to $20,702 before charges for room and board, books and supplies, and campus fees, which include a “Cultural Programming Fee." Total cost of attendance for in-state students is typically in excess of $30,000 per academic year.

This Cultural Programming Fee supports the OIIR whose other “Post-Election Discussion Spaces and Resources” events included, “Latino/Latina Studies Solidarity Hours," “Gender and Women’s Studies Solidarity Hours,"  and “Future of DACA & Know Your Rights: Immigration Project."

The "Racist Uncle Joe” program was scheduled in response to Donald Trump’s election as president and was moderated by Joe Minarik, an adjunct professor at UIUC’s School of Social Work. According to the university’s website, Minarik “has been a social work practitioner for many years, focusing on anti-oppression and social justice education in communities, organizations and in higher education settings.”

"Racist Uncle Joe" is described by Minarik as an “interactive exercise” designed to help students develop response strategies to messages about race or gender that they consider “hurtful or insensitive." Such messages, Minarik said, may take the form of a family member’s “racist jokes, over-generalizations and racial stereotypes.” Some of the coping methods he recommends such as “listening as if what they say matters” are unlikely to cause controversy, while others, such as strategizing with other family members in advance for dealing with "Uncle Joe" may be more controversial.

When asked why the university devotes resources to intrude in private conversations among students’ families and how effective such a program can be, Minarik acknowledged that most families are de facto segregated spaces “unless one is incredibly lucky." Thus, the coping strategies he recommends may be more applicable to the university setting itself and “are skills that are effective on other fronts” such as team effectiveness in the classroom or the workplace.

So who is racist Uncle Joe? According to Minarik, he’s “the type of person who may be well-meaning or well-intentioned, and not necessarily interested in promoting white supremacy” and “should be given the benefit of the doubt." Minarik acknowledges that the word “racist” “typically shuts people down and inhibits conversation,"  but was included in the programs title because it was “easier."

Uncle Joe was unavailable for comment.