Jeff Chang came to Kent State to speak about colorization in America as part of the Leadership Speakers Series held by the Center for Student Involvement (CSI).

Chang is currently the executive director of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford University and speaks such as colorization in America and explains how our society has evolved its views on race.

Della Marshall, the senior associate director for CSI, said she brought Chang to Kent to speak about colorization because it was something students were interested in hearing.

“He talks on a wide variety of topics,” Marshall said. “I wanted to bring him here this evening to talk about the colorization of America.”

Takiyah Hill, a junior majoring in public health, said she was drawn to attend Chang’s speech because of the diversity of the topic.

“I saw the topic,” she said. “I thought, ‘I have to hear it,’ because with the topic, it’s not common.”

Along with teaching and speaking about diversity in America, Chang has also written two books, including: “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop,”which won an American Book Award, and “Who We Be: The Colorization of America.”

“It’s about race; it’s about identity,” he said. “It’s about how far we’ve come.”

He talked about how racism is noticing the difference between humans as something that society has helped establish.

“Race is not a question of biology,” he said. “It starts as a visual problem. It’s about what we see and what we think we see. Change begins with a shift in culture.” 

He noted that seeing this difference is not what the issue is, but instead what people associate the difference with that is the problem. He believes that society will soon be able to look past the race of another person.

Throughout his speech he explained how people’s views have changed and that the color of someone’s skin is no longer something that entirely distinguishes one person from another.

Samantha Nonno is a reporter for The Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].