Race and Racism: A Symposium

Topics of this symposium include race & racism in contemporary culture, personal anecdotes & commentaries on race, the history of race relations & racial identities, & the present state of racial politics in academia. It is argued that current debates should not address whether race matters, but how it matters to different groups to form political identities & power hierarchies. Race cannot be separated from issues of gender, class, sexuality, time, space, & place. It is noted that, despite the progress in understanding race over the past few decades, there is no approach that places politics at the center of its discourse; current perspectives emphasize history or interactionist viewpoints. It is speculated that race can never be escaped or transcended, but only reconciled in different & liberating ways. It is suggested that the emerging neoracisms of many parts of society are linked to the continuing prevalence of masculinism & heterosexism in society. It is observed that race & racial identities survive because they are continually reinvented & institutionalized in changing political & economic contexts. Contributors include: Tricia Rose, Andrew Ross, Robin D. G. Kelley, Joe Wood, Howard Winant, Jacquie Jones, Michael Eric Dyson, Phillip Brian Harper, Steven Gregory, Grant Farred, Gina Dent, David Roediger, Amiri Baraka, Stanley Aronowitz, Lewis R. Gordon, Kevin Gaines. D. Karjanen