Events

Hidden History: Understanding the Origins of Racial Inequity - Emancipation Proclamation through Post Reconstruction: 1863 – 1900s Add to Calendar

Register for the free online event below.

Hidden History: Understanding the Origins of Racial Inequity is a series of three online panel discussions framed by the notion that many people are not unaware of the legacy of slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and post-Reconstruction events. Some people believe these occurrences “were a long time ago.” Others say, “I didn’t own slaves or come from the South, why is this my problem?” Many people do not realize how the North, as a region, and its institutions enabled and fostered the slave trade to their own benefit. Also inadequately understood is how laws, policies and practices enacted after the Civil War continue to limit the advancement of Black people to this day.

Our aim is to bring forward little-known segments of history that prompt greater awareness, reflection and perhaps even “aha!’ moments of insight or recognition regarding how “back then” is linked to today. Much of this history happened a long time ago. But it set the stage for today’s laws, policies, and practices, and to right many related wrongs, we need to understand our history better.

These panels are part of Community Grand Rounds, a discussion series begun in 2018 featuring medical and social science experts talking about how people of color experience poorer health outcomes and lower life expectancies due to policies and practices embedded in our society and our healthcare system. This educational outreach effort is designed to accelerate and foster a better understanding of the impact of structural racism on members of this community and society at large.

Picking up where panel 1 left off, this panel will feature a discussion of  the aftermath of the Civil War including the failure of Reconstruction, Jim Crow and how incidents and policies of that era reverberate today. 

Topics include:

1. Consequences of Reconstruction and Jim Crow to Black southerners
2. Laws and efforts to control freed slaves
3. The Wilmington insurrection

Moderator:

 Brian Conybeare, Journalist/Anchor, ABC57

Panelists: 

Kate Masur, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Northwestern University

J. William Harris, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of New Hampshire

Christopher Everett, Documentary Filmmaker and Communications Manager, Duke University

Executive Producers

• Mike Garey, Mayor of the City of St. Joseph
• Lynn C. Todman, PhD, Vice President, Health Equity, Spectrum Health Lakeland 
• Lake Michigan College
• Stewart Communications, Ltd.

To register, click here.