Confronting Racism

Experts Discuss Race in America

Perhaps no issue is as pervasive and complex in America as systemic racism. Its reach is long, its effects destructive. It has shaped our history and our identities, and it continues to influence virtually every aspect of our culture and politics.

At the same time, a centuries-long struggle against systemic racism has left its own indelible marks on America's past and present. A deep commitment to racial justice, shared by many citizens, has sparked protests and uprisings that continue to renew our democratic principles and move us forward, however haltingly, toward a more perfect union.

Inspired by stunning instances of continued injustice and the widespread protests of 2020, Confronting Racism presented a series of conversations with faculty experts from IU and other universities designed to examine systemic racism in its varied forms and to explore the modes and methods of protest used to confront this central issue in American life.

Brought to you by Indiana University's Center For Research on Race, Ethnicity and Society, College Arts and Humanities Institute, and Arts and Humanities Council, the series addressed current events as well as our country’s longer and much more expansive struggle against injustice. In this, the series represents and renews our campus’s commitment to research, dialogue, and collaborations that engage critically with the most urgent and important issues facing our nation.