Professor to Deliver Lecture at Quinnipiac University

Professor to deliver lecture on white supremacy, school integration and the backlash against racial justice education on April 12 at Quinnipiac University

HAMDEN – Lawrence Blum, professor emeritus of philosophy and distinguished professor of liberal arts and education at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, will present the 37th annual Alfred P. Stiernotte Lecture at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 12, at the Clarice L. Buckman Theater at Quinnipiac University, 275 Mount Carmel Ave. This lecture is free and open to the public.

Blum will present “White Supremacy, School Integration, and the Backlash Against Racial Justice Education” and tackle the question, “Is racial segregation in schools the basic cause of racial disparities and inequality in education, and racial integration the solution to inequality?”

Blum says no and will argue that white supremacy properly understood is the problem.

“If the society is racially unequal along many dimensions—health, wealth, income, housing, occupation—schools will be also,” Blum said. “But school integration nevertheless is a foundation for one crucial aspect of schooling—moral and civic education, teaching students to understand and to engage in civically responsible ways, with the complex, difficult-to-understand dimensions of race in society.”

Blum said in the past year, many states have passed laws forbidding or strongly discouraging teachers from engaging in exactly the kind of anti-racist education required for responsible citizenship in a racially plural democracy.

Blum, who earned his PhD at Harvard, includes race theory, philosophy of education, moral philosophy, and social and political philosophy among his areas of expertise. He is the author of “‘I’m Not a Racist, But...’: The Moral Quandary of Race,” which was selected Social Philosophy Book of the Year by the North American Society for Social Philosophy. His latest book, “Integrations: The Struggle for Racial Equality and Civic Renewal in Public Education,” was published last year.

The Stiernotte lecture series is named in honor of the late Alfred P. Stiernotte, who initiated the teaching of philosophy at Quinnipiac more than 50 years ago. The series has been funded largely from an endowment provided by his estate. For more information, call 203-582-8652.