ONLINE: This lecture-based course will explore the dynamics of American racial apartheid as it evolved from the post-Civil War Reconstruction period to the modern civil rights era (1877-1954). The instructor and his guest speakers were witnesses to the last several decades of these changes. This course will give students a better grasp of what happened, and is continuing to happen, locally and in the South generally. Areas of focus will include: de jure (legal) segregation; integration; and diversity in the military, higher education and the federal government. Guest speakers will share firsthand accounts of their experiences. Recommended readings include traditional history sources as well as more recent titles such as "Caste" and "The Warmth of Other Suns," both by Isabel Wilkerson, and "The 1619 Project," by Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times Magazine. Students will be encouraged to share their own accounts, if they wish. | Lecture + Q&A, Facilitated discussion.
Max enrollment: 30.
Class sessions are recorded.
John Robinson is a retired State Department senior executive and a former Navy officer. He was a senior student life dean at Brown University and a member of the Rhode Island governor's cabinet. His federal appointments include: deputy assistant secretary of labor, senior policy adviser to the secretary of energy, and chief diversity officer for the IRS and the director of national Intelligence. A graduate of Brown, he holds a master's from Tuskegee University, and is a Kellogg Fellow.