THE PERSISTENT DILEMMAS OF EQUITY AND EQUALITY

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RACE, POVERTY, AND CHANGE IN AMERICA: THE PERSISTENT DILEMMAS OF EQUITY AND EQUALITY December 4-5, 2014 University of Law School Fitts Auditorium 3400 Chestnut Street A Commemorative Symposium

Nichols This symposium aims to bring together scholars from a range of disciplines to examine the themes of this 60-year history for civil and equal rights within contemporary environments that argue

Featured Speakers and Invited Guests include Scholars at the University of and the following scholars and experts at other universities: Keynote Speaker: Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director, Equal

Maryland Wizdom Powell, University of North Carolina Micere Keels, University of Chicago James Davis, Temple University A.

University Donald Hernandez, Hunter College Kevin J.A.

1 RACE, POVERTY, AND CHANGE IN AMERICA: THE PERSISTENT DILEMMAS OF EQUITY AND EQUALITY December 4-5, 2014 University of Law School Fitts Auditorium 3400 Chestnut Street A Commemorative Symposium honoring the Anniversaries of Brown v. Board, the Civil Rights Act, the War on Poverty, and Lau v. Nichols This symposium aims to bring together scholars from a range of disciplines to examine the themes of this 60-year history for civil and equal rights within contemporary environments that argue for a postracial society. Featured Speakers and Invited Guests include Scholars at the University of and the following scholars and experts at other universities: Keynote Speaker: Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director, Equal Justice Initiative & Professor of Clinical Law New York University School of Law James Anderson, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Elijah Anderson, Yale University Odis Johnson, University of Maryland Wizdom Powell, University of North Carolina Micere Keels, University of Chicago James Davis, Temple University A. Lin Goodwin, Columbia University Carla O Connor, University of Michigan Karolyn Tyson, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Sarah Willie-LeBreton, Swarthmore College Eugene Garcia, Arizona State University Donald Hernandez, Hunter College Kevin J.A. Thomas, Penn State University Robert Entman, George Washington University Marc Lamont Hill, Morehouse College Kimberley Johnson, Barnard College, Columbia University Phoebe Haddon, Rutgers University, Camden Christopher Lebron, Yale University This symposium is sponsored by the Penn Graduate School of Education, the Carter Chair in Child Development and Education, and the Center for Africana Studies, and co-sponsored with the Annenberg School for Communication, Penn Institute for Urban Research, Penn Law School, School of Arts and Sciences, School of Social Policy and Practice, the Wharton Sports Business Initiative-Wharton School, and the following centers and programs: the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy, Center for Minority-Serving Institutions, Center for the Study of Race & Equity in Education, Penn Child Center and the National Center on Fathers and Families, and Philadelphia Writing Project. FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER:

2 RACE, POVERTY, AND CHANGE IN AMERICA THE PERSISTENT DILEMMAS OF EQUITY AND EQUALITY A Commemorative Symposium honoring the Anniversaries of Brown v. Board, the Civil Rights Act, the War on Poverty, and Lau v. Nichols December 4-5, 2014 University of Law School The importance of 2014 is captured in the anniversaries of four social policies that speak to the issues of justice in America: the Brown v. Board decision, the Civil Rights Act, the War on Poverty, and the Lau v. Nichols decision. Individually and collectively, these policies represented the potential to reshape the experiences of millions of disenfranchised American children and families. The questions that advanced the agendas for the policies are still salient, including whether and how matters of place, race, poverty, and social change are used to debate persistent dilemmas around discrimination, access, and opportunity within and outside political arenas. This symposium focuses on the importance of these four policies within contemporary discussions about educational access and opportunity, structural barriers, and social welfare. It brings together scholars from multiple disciplines to examine the themes of this 60-year history for civil and equal rights in which intractable problems of joblessness, poor schools and low-quality schooling, neighborhood blight, and high levels of incarceration persist in cities and rural areas alike. In moving forward: What questions and problems persist in the varied contexts in which children and families live? Who is affected and with what short and long-term implications? Where does America go from here? What is the change that is sought? What actions are necessary to effect this change? SPONSORS Penn Graduate School of Education, The William T. Carter Chair in Child Development, and The Center for Africana Studies and the following co-sponsors: Annenberg School for Communications, Penn Institute for Urban Research, Penn Law School, School of Arts and Sciences, School of Social Policy and Practice, Wharton School Sports Business Initiative, and Penn Graduate School of Education Centers (Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy, Center for Minority-Serving Institutions, Center for the Study of Race & Equity in Education, Penn Child Center and the National Center on Fathers and Families, and the Philadelphia Writing Project)

3 RACE, POVERTY, AND CHANGE IN AMERICA THE PERSISTENT DILEMMAS OF EQUITY AND EQUALITY A Commemorative Symposium honoring the Anniversaries of Brown v. Board, the Civil Rights Act, the War on Poverty, and Lau v. Nichols SCHEDULE OF EVENTS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, :00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Welcome Vivian L. Gadsden, University of Camille Z. Charles, University of Introduction of the Speaker 11:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Overview for the Symposium 11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. Lunch Break Opening Keynote Address Bryan A. Stevenson, Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative and Professor of Clinical Law, New York University Law School Author: Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption 12:15 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. Opening Commentary Mary Frances Berry, University of Opening Panel Plenary History and the Historiography of Change The issues that define the four events are grounded in a complex framework of historical change and chronicled in a range of publications about slavery, Reconstruction, schooling, and societal change in the South and North. This plenary will address the educational, social, and societal context for the four events and will chronicle where and how change has occurred over time and into the present. James Anderson, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Steven Hahn, University of Heather Williams, University of Moderator/Discussant: John Jackson, University of 2:15 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Break

4 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Roundtable Reducing Vulnerability for Families and Neighborhoods: Structural Hierarchies and Public Policy The problems of race, place, poverty and change are no starker than in the ability of families to sustain themselves and individual family members to participate in the workforce, to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their children, and to increase possibilities. Poverty and race are clearly implicated; however, problems of language, crime and incarceration, poor health, and homelessness are poignant as well, with issues related to gender, sexual orientation, and immigrant status reaching the surface of politically and personally charged discussions. This roundtable will focus on the contexts of these issues and the ways in which current research, policies, and public talk are configuring critical debates and approaches to change. Elijah Anderson, Yale University Eugenie Birch, University of Dennis Culhane, University of Nelson Flores, University of Sara Jaffee, University of Kelvin Jeremiah, Philadelphia Housing Authority Odis Johnson, University of Maryland Micere Keels, University of Chicago Annette Lareau, University of Wizdom Powell, University of North Carolina Susan Wachter, University of Moderator/Discussant: Howard Stevenson, University of 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Evening Panel Plenary Social Justice, Public Policy, and the Law The ways in which politics, government policies, and the law enter into the lives of Americans is part of ongoing discussions, particularly for poor communities and poor communities of color. The disproportionate number of current and formerly incarcerated adults and parents in urban neighborhoods has remapped these neighborhoods, often contributing to negative folklore about the limited possibilities for children and their families. In 2000, the U. S. Department of Justice released the first federally commissioned report on the number of incarcerated parents and found that nearly 3.6 million parents were under some form of correctional supervision which affected more than 7.1 million children. More recent data suggest persistent growth in this population. Christopher Lebron, Yale University Dorothy Roberts, University of Kenneth Shropshire, University of Moderator/Discussant: Wendell Pritchett, University of Special Tribute to John Lewis, Democrat-Georgia, U.S. House of Representatives, Civil Rights Activist

5 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, :00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Roundtable The Future of Education, Schools, and the Well-Being of Children Few issues over the past 60 years have captured the public s attention more assertively, challenged the public s perception of America s status in the world more successfully, or tested the public imagination more aggressively than the focus on schools and schooling. Recent problems facing urban school districts, such as Philadelphia, Camden, New Orleans, and Chicago, and ongoing problems in these and other districts throughout the U.S. are examples of the ways in which issues of funding, parent engagement and community support, students and teachers school experiences, student achievement, and the political economy converge to create a perfect storm. They also point to the effects of demographic and ideological shifts related to public schools, the rise in enrollments in private schools, and the increase in charter schools post-brown v. Board. The indictments of these districts refer not simply to what happens in schools but also to what happens around them and to the resources within the neighborhoods, communities, and the homes of students and their families. 11:00 a.m. - 11:10 a.m. Break James Davis, Temple University Ezekiel Dixon-Roman, University of A. Lin Goodwin. Teachers College, Columbia University Shaun Harper, University of Nancy Hornberger, University of Sarah Willie LeBreton, Swarthmore College Carla O Connor, University of Michigan Laura Perna, University of Karolyn Tyson, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Joseph Youngblood, Thomas Edison State College Moderator/Discussant: Matthew Hartley, University of 11:10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Access and Opportunity in the Expanding Discourses of Equity and Equality: Immigration, Immigrant Children, and Language Policy and Practice The past decade has seen considerable changes in the law and public opinion around a number of issues that are clearly situated in questions of who counts as an American and what and how language matters. Issues related to immigration and immigrant status are not national policy decisions alone, but are inextricably tied to how the lives of children and families new to the U.S. and living in the U.S. over time are affected. The recent crisis around Border Children highlights the urgency to address the problems, as do the ongoing questions of immigration policy, legal documentation, language, and humans as documented in America. Eugene Garcia, Arizona State University Donald Hernandez, Hunter College Kevin J.A. Thomas, Penn State University Moderator/Discussant: Gerald Campano, University of

6 12:30 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Lunch Break 1:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. The Modern American Racial Politic Race is embedded in the American identity and in American politics. References to color-blind and race-conscious dominate political and policy discourses, and redefine, if not convolute, efforts for equity and equality. How are the issues of race examined in modern politics, and what has been the evolution of the debates over the past 60 years? How are the issues of class integrated into these debates? In other words, what drives political actions, and how are color-blind versus race-conscious policies implicated, negotiated, and manipulated in these actions? Rogers Smith, University of Kimberley Johnson, Barnard College, Columbia University Daniel Gillion, University of Moderator/Discussant: Sigal Ben-Porath, University of 2:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Critical issues in Media, Representations of Race and Poverty, and Religion Over the past 60 years, poignant images presented through multiple media highlight the persistence of the problems of race, poverty, and difference. Religion has become a significant part of discussions of difference and in the visual image. The images contribute to a visual culture in which different forms of art and technology come together to record and represent experience, politics, and change as well as the unrest and tensions that lie within. What is captured in an image: that is, how are pictures and the words associated with them used to represent the diversity of experience in America, how do they influence observers, and what do they portend for the future of equity and equality? Robert Entman, George Washington University Marc Lamont Hill, Morehouse College Anthea Butler, University of Moderator/Discussant: Guthrie Ramsey, University of 3:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. Changing Politics of Equity and Equality: Women s Rights, Gender, and Sexuality Recent discussions about gender equality in and out of the workplace, ongoing efforts around reproductive rights, and controversies about sexuality and same-sex marriage have led to change in social and public policies at different levels of government. They are grounded as well in political debate and contestation that affect the daily experiences of children, adults, families, and communities. How are these issues represented and understood in political and public perspective, and how are they likely to be situated in future discourses on equity and equality? Nancy Hirschmann, University of Melissa Sanchez, University of Tobias Wolff, University of Moderator/Discussant: Herman Beavers, University of

7 4:45 p.m. - 4:55 p.m. Closing Commentary Regina Austin, University of 4:55 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Closing Statement of Appreciation Camille Z. Charles, University of Vivian L. Gadsden, University of 5:00p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Closing Reception and Student Poster Session Featuring student posters and presentations from the School District of Philadelphia SPONSORS Penn Graduate School of Education The William T. Carter Chair in Child Development The Center for Africana Studies and the following co-sponsors: Annenberg School for Communications Penn Institute for Urban Research Penn Law School School of Arts and Sciences School of Social Policy and Practice Wharton School Sports Business Initiative Penn Graduate School of Education Centers: Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy Center for Minority-Serving Institutions Center for the Study of Race & Equity in Education Penn Child Center and the National Center on Fathers and Families Philadelphia Writing Project

President Dennis Assanis

President Dennis Assanis Strategic Planning Where are we now? Where do we want to go? Identify peer institutions for comparison current and aspirational Articulate shared vision and identify cross-cutting