Panelists hope to raise awareness in discussion on race

February 19, 2007

On Feb. 26, a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist will lead an open discussion on race in an expert panel sponsored by the University of Florida Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations.

Jabari Asim, columnist and deputy editor at The Washington Post Book World, writes on topics ranging from social issues to politics to popular culture in his weekly column. His upcoming book, “The N Word: Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn’t, and Why,” explores the history of the racial slur and its modern uses.

“I think that we are very much still struggling with the idea of racial difference,” Asim said. “It has become increasingly complicated.”

Center Director Katheryn Russell-Brown, a UF law professor, organized the panel after she got a phone call from State Sen. Anthony Hill. He suggested the center host a discussion on race after several recent racially charged incidents in the media spotlight.

“Race has been in the news,” Russell-Brown said. “We knew that there are a number of experts here at UF, so we wanted to take advantage of that.”

Last November, an 88-year-old black woman, Kathryn Johnston, was shot by three undercover police officers in her Atlanta home. The officers broke down her door using a “no-knock” warrant. Four days later, Sean Bell, a black man attending his bachelor party, was shot 50 times by plainclothes New York Police Department detectives. He was unarmed.

“Seinfeld” TV actor Michael Richards’ racist tirade at a comedy club and actor-director Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic drunken ramblings also garnered national attention.

“This is not just a black-white conversation; it’s for everyone,” Russell-Brown said.

The racial dialogue begins at noon in the Levin College of Law, Room 355B.
Panelists are: Faye Harrison, professor, anthropology and African-American studies; Yuko Fujino, instructor, sociology; Kenneth Nunn, professor, law; and Milagros Peña, associate professor, sociology and women’s studies.

“Race is not part of the national conversation. We need to begin to start talking about race with an academic approach,” Nunn said. “We talk around it, but we never really squarely address these issues so they keep coming back in one form or another.”

Peña has studied the Hispanic experience in the United States and written extensively on the topic. She said she agreed to be a part of the panel because of the “recent militarization of the Mexican border and marginalized status of Latinos and Latinas.”

“I hope it will bring attention to the way in which racism in the U.S. continues to rear its ugly head,” she said.

While keynote speaker Asim admits that young people are more enlightened about race than his generation, he finds existing prejudice among the educated surprising and distressing. He said he hopes people leave the panel with more confidence in dealing with those unlike themselves and a motivation to continue the discussion.

“The education is an ongoing process, and we all have to be educated,” Asim said. “Once you know, there is no excuse for racially provocative behavior.”