Spring Break
MLK panel talks civil rights
Victoria Napoli
Issue date: 3/4/09 Section: News
According to Jeffrey Ogbar, the utility of nonviolence involves the tenacity of human spirit and the power of moral suasion. Ogbar, director of the Institute for African-American studies and associate professor of history voiced this dogma during a Martin Luther King panel discussion on March 3 in the Women's Center in the Student Union.
Supported by the Office of Diversity and Equity, the event panel also included Bandana Purkayastha, associate professor of sociology and Asian-American studies, and Shayla Nunnally, assistant professor of political science and African-American studies.
As the panel's moderator, Ogbar began the discussion by explaining that the aim of the panel was to examine Martin Luther King Jr.'s historical and contextual background in order to understand his significance.
"I'm struck by the sanitized way Americans see the civil rights movement. The segregation of water fountains and bathrooms does not illustrate the gravity of that historical moment," Ogbar said.
Ogbar presented an analogy in which he asked the audience to visualize an iceberg as a model for understanding the civil rights era. The top portion of the iceberg represented the mild discrimination including segregated bathrooms and buses, while the submerged portion of the iceberg represented the deeper, underlying challenge of achieving basic human rights for all. To outline this challenge, Ogbar cited examples such as people getting turned away from hospitals because of their race and FBI agents specifically instructed not to give CPR to black people.
"It is amazing the utter barbarity of it all," he said.
Purkayastha furthered the discussion by explaining that "politics is not enough to bring about social change." She noted that King's legacy is a deep history that began in India with Mohandas Gandhi who encouraged a love for the enemy.
"Taking action was something I grew up with and it was a central idea," she said. "Gandhi's method was engaging in certain kinds of politics. King talked about the methods you used to engage."
Supported by the Office of Diversity and Equity, the event panel also included Bandana Purkayastha, associate professor of sociology and Asian-American studies, and Shayla Nunnally, assistant professor of political science and African-American studies.
As the panel's moderator, Ogbar began the discussion by explaining that the aim of the panel was to examine Martin Luther King Jr.'s historical and contextual background in order to understand his significance.
"I'm struck by the sanitized way Americans see the civil rights movement. The segregation of water fountains and bathrooms does not illustrate the gravity of that historical moment," Ogbar said.
Ogbar presented an analogy in which he asked the audience to visualize an iceberg as a model for understanding the civil rights era. The top portion of the iceberg represented the mild discrimination including segregated bathrooms and buses, while the submerged portion of the iceberg represented the deeper, underlying challenge of achieving basic human rights for all. To outline this challenge, Ogbar cited examples such as people getting turned away from hospitals because of their race and FBI agents specifically instructed not to give CPR to black people.
"It is amazing the utter barbarity of it all," he said.
Purkayastha furthered the discussion by explaining that "politics is not enough to bring about social change." She noted that King's legacy is a deep history that began in India with Mohandas Gandhi who encouraged a love for the enemy.
"Taking action was something I grew up with and it was a central idea," she said. "Gandhi's method was engaging in certain kinds of politics. King talked about the methods you used to engage."
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msfreeh
posted 3/05/09 @ 1:29 AM EST
for a partial list of crimes committed by FBI agents over 1500 pages long
including their involvement in the Martin Luther King assassination see
http://forum. (Continued…)
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