Racism no longer has to be as hidden as it used to be in this country, according to Matthew Briones, who spoke at a lunchtime discussion hosted by the Multiethnic Students’ Association on Jan. 25. Professor Briones, associate professor of American history at the University of Chicago, spoke about racial conflict and how the problems we face today are not new.

Professor Briones began by speaking about Charles Kikuchi, who spent World War II in a Japanese internment camp and later became a civil rights activist most known for his book, “The Kikuchi Diary.”

The discussion transitioned to the racial tension in America today and how Mr. Kikuchi’s struggle is still alive. Mr. Briones spoke about the insidious nature of the resurgence of white supremacy in the United States, citing the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the more recent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6.

Briones also drew a comparison between the 1925 KKK march on the U.S. Capitol, and the insurrection on Jan. 6.
“They wore the masks then, but they didn’t need the masks on Jan 6,” he said, noting  the more blatant nature of today’s racial conflicts.