A white anti-racism speaker was paid more than a black speaker at an annual University of Wisconsin-Madison Diversity Forum event.
Robin DiAngelo, a white woman who authored the best-selling book, White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, was paid $12,750 to speak at the event. Austin Channing Brown, a black woman who was the other keynote speaker, was paid $7,500 for her appearance, according to receipts obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. No other speakers were paid for their appearances.
Both DiAngelo and Brown are represented by the Harry Walker Agency, yet DiAngelo received 70% more money for her appearance.
DiAngelo’s book has made her a highly sought-after figure for speeches, where she charges up to $30,000 for a 60 to 90-minute appearance. But DiAngelo herself has spoken out against such economic considerations before, claiming that capitalism is “bound up with racism.”
“Capitalism is so bound up with racism. I avoid critiquing capitalism — I don’t need to give people reasons to dismiss me. But capitalism is dependent on inequality, on an underclass. If the model is profit over everything else, you’re not going to look at your policies to see what is most racially equitable,” DiAngelo said during a New York Times interview.
DiAngelo’s influence has grown so large that she spoke via teleconference to the House Democratic caucus in June, warning white office holders that they are not immune from self-examination because they serve in a diverse district or marched against racism in the 1960s.
“For all the white people listening right now, thinking I am not talking to you,” DiAngelo told Democrat lawmakers, “I am looking directly in your eyes and saying, ‘It is you.'”
While less famous than DiAngelo, Brown too is a best-selling author after publishing her book, I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness.
Wisconsin-Madison’s Diversity Forum event has been held annually for 20 years, regularly attracting more than 1,000 attendees. Due to the pandemic, the event was held entirely online this year.
Neither DiAngelo nor Brown immediately returned a Washington Examiner request for comment.
