African American and Scholars Compare Their Respective Liberation Struggles

Conversation with Manjula Pradeep, Martin Macwan, and Kevin Brown

April 1, 3:30-4:30pm, Sakamaki Hall A201

Many scholars in the past compared and contrasted African-Americans with . However, it is exceedingly rare to see such comparisons done by both African-American and Dalit scholars. This panel will involve African-American scholars familiar with Dalit oppression in and Dalit scholars familiar with African-American oppression in the United States discussing the lessons each have learned about their own group’s oppression and liberation struggle through comparing and contrasting their respective group’s situations with that of the other group. The 1950s proved to be a time of monumental change for both groups. De jure segregation and conscious racial discrimination by government were declared unconstitutional in the United States. The ratification of the Indian Constitution in 1950 marked a watershed moment for Dalit legal rights. Indian society formally recognized the need to address the historic oppression of many groups in its constitution, including the Dalits. Despite the impressive performance by a number of high profile black individuals, as a group, blacks continue to lag far behind non-Hispanic whites on virtually all significant socio-economic measures. In the face of over 60 years of constitutional protection, recent sociological studies indicate that the idea of inherent pollution of Dalits continues to subject the group to continued discrimination and oppression in India.

Speakers:

Manjula Pradeep, Human Rights Attorney and Executive Director of Navsarjan, an organization committed to the eradication of the system..

Martin Macwan, Founder of Navsarjan Trust. He received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in 2000, and is theChairperson of the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies. Like Ms. Pradeep, he has a long history of fighting caste- based discrimination.

Kevin Brown, Richard S. Melvin Professor of , Indiana University- Bloomington. He was one of the original participants and founders of both Critical Race Theory Workshop and the People of Color Conference.

A Center for South Asian Studies event co-sponsored by the Department of History, the Richardson School of Law, and the Department of Ethnic Studies.

Email [email protected] or phone x65652 for more details or questions.