By Laura Shrake

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From his time as the first and only African American student body president at the University of Toledo to his commentary on how to create diversity, journalist Jeff Johnson said he is passionate about how people communicate about race and racism.

“If we’re going to deal with the issue of race and racism there is also a question of are we willing to step outside our comfort zone to create relationships with folks who are outside of what our normal peer group is,” Johnson said. “When you do that, how you talk about race starts being different.”

Johnson is a commentator on politics, entertainment and social policy, appearing on media outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, BET and the Huffington Post.

During his visit to UK on Tuesday, Johnson shared his experiences, commentary and ideas about race and racism in today’s society, offering insight into how to better foster a community of diversity.

“We, as a country, are afraid to deal with the reality of what we’ve done to the people of color in America … regardless of if we were part of the oppressed group or if we were part of the oppressing group,” he said. “And even when we have the opportunity to have these discussions, they almost always become superficial or over-politicized.”

Because of this, Johnson said he would love to see society be in a place where it is possible to talk honestly about what race and racism is doing to individuals and the country as a whole. He said institutions of higher education are places where these conversations should happen.

“But … seldom on college campuses do I see honest conversations about race,” Johnson said. “Because most of us aren’t willing to be uncomfortable … to challenge our own ignorance … where we are in the position to say things that we know will make other people uncomfortable.”

Johnson advocated for creating a space to build community instead of adding diversity.

“I’m tired of universities talking about diversity and inclusion,” he said. “But you (don’t have) community, so you sell diversity as a value proposition to protect your students and investments … with diversity pamphlets.”

In light of this, he provided students with a few ways to combat the situation — creating opportunities to make yourself and others feel uncomfortable and becoming ambassadors and making friends with unexpected people.

One example he gave of how he carried this out was when he sponsored events called “Why I Hate You,” where a moderator would foster a conversation between people of different races and ethnicities about why they hate other races and ethnicities.

Johnson said these conversations deal with the “crazy” perceptions we have about each other, but then dig deeper for why these perceptions came about. By doing this, we can challenge the perceptions we have, Johnson said.

Communication senior Lauren Thompson, the moderator for the event, spoke highly of the event.

“I thought it was really good that we brought him here,” Thompson said. “He always speaks about diversity and UK is one of those institutions that constantly brags about diversity, but being a person of color, I don’t really see it that much.”

Thompson said she hopes Johnson’s motivational speaking will inspire people to step outside of their comfort zone and talk about things that make themselves and others uncomfortable.

Communications sophomore Jasmine Martinez said Johnson’s presentation made her want to “put herself out there” because you have to know people in order to build business relationships.

The Martin Luther King Center partnered with the College of Communication and Information to bring Johnson to campus in what MLK Center director Kahlil Baker called an effort to “do something around diversity.”

“Our goal is to bring folks to campus who bring substance, that can create conversation,” Baker said.

By partnering with the college, Baker they were able to bring someone to campus that was meaningful to students who care about the areas of communication and discussion.