A panel of leading public policy experts will explore "A Framework for Good Race Relations in the U.S. and Abroad: Meeting the Challenges of the Future" at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 3, at the law school's Tull Auditorium. The University community is invited to attend.
Panelists will include Justice Pius Langa of the Constitutional Court of South Africa; Ira Glasser, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union; Derrick Bell, professor at New York University Law School; and Antonia Hernandez, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
The panel is part of a five-day private meeting called "Beyond Racism: Brazil, South Africa and the United States in the 21st Century," a consultation which has been organized by the Southern Education Foundation (SEF) of Atlanta.
The consultation, featuring working sessions with prominent figures in academia, government and business, is part of SEF's Comparative Human Relations Initiative, which is directed by Lynn Huntley. A distinguished international working and advisory group will conduct and attend sessions ranging from "Global Trends in Race Relations" to "Educational Access and Equity."
SEF is a nonprofit organization that has for many years sought to improve access to educational opportunity for African Americans and other disadvantaged groups in the American South. The initiative's aim is to promote the exchange of information and ideas on how to improve intergroup relations in Brazil, South Africa and the United States.
Members of the international working group are: Peter Bell, president and CEO of CARE, United States; Ana Maria Brasileiro, chief, political empowerment division, UNIFEM, Brazil; Shaun Johnson, editor, The Argus, South Africa; Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, professor, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil; Khehla Shubane, research officer, Centre for Policy Studies, South Africa; Ratnamala Singh, director, Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa; Gloria Steinem, contributing editor, Ms. Magazine, U.S.; Franklin A. Thomas, president, TSF Study Group, U.S.; and Tom Uhlman, vice president, Lucent Technologies, U.S.
The initiative's U.S. consultation is co-sponsored by the law school and its Law and Religion Program. The initiative will hold a consultation in Brazil in September and in South Africa in March 1998. Publications will be developed and disseminated to share findings and insights with a broader audience.
-Elaine Justice