Anti-Racist Tim Wise on Conservative Talk Radio Today at 9:30 and 10am

[UPDATE:  10:30am - Here's what happened.  They put Tim on early at KWHL and I missed it totally.  What I heard was pretty disgusting and shows that if Bob and Mark learned something about Native Americans, what they learned didn't transfer to other groups.  I may address it in another post.  The discussion with Dave Stieren was good.  Dave asked serious, hard questions and Tim responded just as seriously.]


I didn't have time to post the video from last night at UAA.  It was pretty strong, but the audience at UAA was right with Tim.  Anyway, this morning Tim is on

KWHL 106.5 at 9:30 am.   [UPDATE: He's on KFQD -750AM - doesn't seem to have been on KWHL]

Tim Wise Signing Books at UAA Tuesday Night

This is with Bob and Mark who earlier this year had a segment called Cash for Tlingits which caused a serious reaction from Native Alaskans.  This resulted in the First Alaskan Institute and Healing Racism in Anchorage to begin 'conversations' with the two dj's involved as well as other station staff members.  Bob and Mark have issued apologies that were not viewed as pro forma, but really showed an understanding of why people were so offended and angered. 

This is a talk show and their audience hasn't gone through such a transformation, so this could be interesting.


At 10am, Tim will go down the hall and Anchorage Media Group to one of their other stations - KFQD 750 am - and will be on the Dave Stieren show.

Here's some of KTUU's description of the press conference (there's a video at the link too) after the discussions:

. . .After several months of ongoing meetings, the radio duo says the process has been illuminating. 

"Everything I've learned in the last three months has made me a better human being," Colavecchio said.

When KBFX “The Fox” shock jocks Woody and Wilcox were called on the carpet in 2008 for making a racist and sexual joke that targeted Native women, the outrage led to serious consequences, including a two-week suspension of the hosts.

"And they got taken off the air and there was a huge backlash against the Native people and it was -- oh, and there was all these just horrible, disparaging comments, and how we couldn't take a joke," Rowan-Hellen said.   [Actually, Healing Racism in Anchorage and the Native Heritage Center (I think) worked with them in a similar fashion with a similar result.  It just wasn't made as public at the end as this incident was.]

But everyone involved in this incident hopes the outcome of this effort will take wing in a different direction. It was Rowan-Hellen who called for a face-to-face meeting with Lester and Colavecchio.

"I didn't want things to be done in anger, because I was angry," Rowan-Hellen said. "What I wanted was to sit down, so that Bob and Mark had my face in mind, so they knew me as a person -- so they could see, and that hopefully they could see what they were doing was hurtful."

Lester said he was surprised at the response.

“I was overwhelmed with the feeling of forgiveness,” Lester said.

The turning point came when Lester and Colavecchio attended a totem-raising at the Alaska Native Heritage Center, and met Alaska Natives who were fans of their show and were excited to see them. Colavecchio said he felt the kind of shame you feel when you hurt someone who loves you, and still embraces you.

"It transcends words," Colavecchio said.  

The First Alaskans Institute's Liz Medicine Crow says words are also where healing can begin.

"In the Tlingit culture, one of our values is to speak carefully and understand the power of words," Medicine Crow said.

"The Bob and Mark Show's" involvement doesn't end with Wednesday's news conference. The hosts and their station have pledged to do more to promote some of the positive aspects of Native culture.

A group called Healing Racism in Anchorage has planned several events this month.

Contact Rhonda McBride at rmcbride@ktuu.com

 It was pretty foggy last night after the UAA presentation and it's still foggy this morning.