Taking race matters seriously

Diverse Issues in Higher Education, May 15, 2008 by Henry Bourgeois, Detmer Wells

I applaud those institutions taking this subject seriously (see "University of Illinois Center Works to Deconstruct the Politics of Race," April 17). It's been ignored for too long. Hurray for Dr. Fagin whom I met at the University of Florida in the early '90s. He has done exceptional work on the issue. I hope you can use folks like Dr. Cornel West, Dr. Mike Dyson, Lee Mun Wah of Stirfry Seminars & Consulting, etc. to contribute to the dialogue. We need that dialogue urgently if we are to survive as a multiracial nation.

--Henry Bourgeois

In light of the racial undertones of the current presidential election, the work of centers such as the one at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is of the utmost importance. The folks at UIUC need look no further than to the neighboring state to the north, where Wisconsin voters just voted their first and only Supreme Court Justice of color out of office at their first opportunity (Justice Louis B. Butler was appointed by Wisconsin's governor about four years ago). Outside interest groups and Butlers opponent ran millions of dollars worth of racially charged ads that were compared to the "Willie Horton" campaign of 1980s presidential politics. Newsweek magazine ran a story about the dirty politics being played just prior to the election, yet Butler still became the first incumbent in decades to lose a Wisconsin State Supreme Court election. How can it be so easy to vote a highly respected incumbent out of such an important office by simply playing the race card? This bodes poorly for Sen. Barack Obama and is certainly worthy of study and discussion.

--Detmer Wells