'Stuff White People Like' author to speak Sunday

Christian Lander, blogger and author of “Stuff White People Like,” says he is not a racist and created his blog not to perpetuate hate, but to simply mock white people who, he said, believe they are truly unique and cannot be generalized.

Lander, whose lecture is sponsored by the Union Board, will speak at 7 p.m. Sunday in the Indiana Memorial Union’s Whittenberger Auditorium. The Union Board’s Lecture Committee said it decided to bring him because of his popularity and thought his lecture would be funny and entertaining for students, said sophomore Caitlin Van Kooten, lecture committee director.

“I write about what I know,” said Lander in an e-mail.

Lander is an IU doctoral student dropout and former teacher of public speaking at IU. This will hopefully make for some funny moments during his lecture, he said in an e-mail.

Lander found inspiration for his blog when he and a friend were instant messaging about their love for the TV show “The Wire.” His friend, a Filipino, mentioned he would not trust any white person who did not watch the show. From there they started to list all the things white people were doing in lieu of watching it.

Because Lander thought their list was hysterical, he went to wordpress.com and started blogging. He said he never thought the blog would be a hit.

The site has more than 58 million hits to date. The blog, which Lander started on a whim, landed him a $300,000 book advance and a New York Times Best Seller.

Lander’s blog inspired many spin-off Web sites, such as stuffjournalistslike.com and stuffindianpeoplelike.com.

“I think it’s fantastic,” he said in an e-mail. “I definitely support it.”

Some things that made the list for the book “Stuff White People Like” are President Barack Obama, veganism/vegetarianism, coffee, girls with bangs, knowing what’s best for poor people, being an expert on one’s culture, organic food, hating one’s parents and studying abroad.

“I think the one about white people studying abroad is really funny and so true,” said graduate student Ann Polsgrove.

In an e-mail, Lander said he hopes people will show up, enjoy the talk and learn the story behind how the phenomenon became so popular. Students have also expressed their enthusiasm about the event and, overall, think Lander will be hilarious.

“It’s funny, but pretty insightful,” graduate student Daniel Robison said. “It’s more of a social commentary, and he makes me realize things that I wouldn’t think of on my own.”