Michael LaBossiere, who teaches philosophy and logic courses at FAMU, recently weighed in on what U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's historic victory means for American race relations and how he's incorporated the issue into his class talks:My ethics class has long featured a section on racial equality and yesterday gave me the opportunity to discuss the subject in a new light. Not surprisingly, my students were quite pleased with Obama’s victory and they felt very optimistic. However, they were also realistic about what his election means.
To focus the discussion, I used Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. In his speech, three of the problems he mentions are segregation, discrimination and poverty. As the class discussion revealed, while segregation and discrimination are now illegal, they still remain serious problems. After all, it is possible to segregate and discriminate in ways that do not break the law. For example, while African-Americans make up a disproportionately large percentage of the the prison population in America, they make up a disproportionately small percentage of those in leadership positions (political, academic, and business). Poverty is, of course, still a concern and wealth still seems to follow racial lines in the United States. These problems and other factors clearly indicate that America is not post racial.
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And the point of this inclusion is?
ReplyDeleteAs a professor at the university I, along with countless others, embraced this historic event with candid discussions about race and racial equality. Many of us weave such discussions into our daily lectures -- no matter our subject areas, because there are a plethora of areas that we can each extend a candid discourse. I'm simply wondering why this professor's comment is blog-worthy. I imagine that such a thing is happening at universities across the nation -- as it should be. I'll take my answer off the air.
Question? How can you take your answer off air and leave no contact info?
ReplyDeleteWe strive to make RN a forum for a wide variety of views. As part of that, we seek out and post opinon pieces from students, faculty, and alumni. Last week, you also saw an op-ed from FAMU student Georgia Dawkins on Election 2008.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't want to leave comments in the forum, you're always welcome to email us at Rattler_Nation@yahoo.com.
1:52, my last statement: "I'll take my answer off the air," is a facetious one. Hello? Obiviously, you never listen to public radio where answers to inquiries are taken "off the air." I was just being sarcastic. Duh.
ReplyDeleteHe is a great professor. He taught my ethics class when I was a sophomore. I am glad he is still at FAMU.
ReplyDeleteWho is the dufus anon prof in the first comment? I hope she is not an English prof.
ReplyDeletewhy do you think the first blogger is an english professor? do only english professors discuss such things or write with such flair? if you think that 11:26, that says more about you and your lack of critical thinking skills than it does about who teaches what, when.
ReplyDeleteOMG, no one really believed that someone could take an answer "off the air" when this is a writer's forum. Dang. I figured the person was just pulling someone's leg and I did a quick LOL and forgot about it.
ReplyDelete