vailsymposium

The Conversations on Controversial Issues series is moderated by Clay Jenkinson
and generously underwritten by Nancy & Stephen Dowdle, Carole & Pete Feistmann, Laine & Merv Lapin, Cathy Pollard & Dr. Alan Markowitz, Jeanne & Dale Mosier, Sandy & Fred Pack, and Mary Pat & Keith Rapp.

What is the history of the African-American experience in America?  Why is their representation in places such as the Smithsonian Museum being questioned? How far have we come and what still needs to be done? Why, 250 years after our founders declared that “All men are created equal,” are we still talking about this?

Race has been one of the central issues of American life. Although the Founders declared that all men are created equal, they made no effort to live up to that ideal.

Many white Americans tend to believe that the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s “solved” the problem, or that African-Americans themselves are now responsible for whatever is undone or unresolved in racial equality and racial justice. The election of Barack Obama in 2008 led many well-meaning Americans to declare that we had entered a post-racial epoch in our history. The push for awareness, from kneeling to the movement following the death of George Floyd in 2020, coupled with fundamental problems in American education, policing, judicial systems, and popular culture, shocked many Americans, and reminded us all that achieving a true multiracial society still eludes us.  Join award-winning historian and author Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander, Endowed Professor of Virginia Black History and Culture at Norfolk State University, together with Dr. Julian Hayter, Professor of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond in this Conversations on Controversial Issues moderated by Clay Jenkinson, as they discuss the history and politics of the African-American experience in America, the legacy and current status, and where it could go from here.