Melissa Harris-Lacewell

A List
11/02/09

SLU Speaker To Address 'Politics Of Race'

CANTON - "The Shifting Politics of Race in the Age of Obama" is the topic for a talk by Melissa Harris-Lacewell at St. Lawrence University on Thursday, November 12, at 7:30 p.m. in the Common Room of Sykes Residence Hall. The event, part of the Contemporary Issues Forum, is open to the public, free of charge.

What may one make of the racial implications of the election and presidency of Barack Obama? On the eve of his election, American public opinion was deeply racially divided. Yet Obama was elected by a large multi-racial coalition. In the months since his election, expressions of open racial animus seem ever present. But citizens continue to reject racism as incommensurate with American ideals. The broad and sometimes contradictory trends provoke questions about the contemporary contours of racial politics in the United States.

Harris-Lacewell is associate professor of politics and African American studies at Princeton University. She is the author of the award-winning book, Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought, (Princeton 2004) and is at work on a new book, Sister Citizen: A Text For Colored Girls Who've Considered Politics When Being Strong Wasn't Enough (forthcoming, Yale University Press).

The Contemporary Issues Forum brings experts and participants in the making of news to campus throughout the academic year.

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