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Summary

The Aspen Institute Symposium on the State of Race in America explored new attitudes, opportunities, and challenges for and about people of color in 21st century America. The 2018 event was presented by the Communications and Society Program in association with Comcast NBCUniversal. 
OPENING KEYNOTE

 GREAT EXPECTATIONS
RACIAL HATE SPEECH AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT
CLOSING KEYNOTE

PANELISTS
David Brooks
Op-Ed Columnist, The New York Times
Irene Bueno
Co-Founder & Partner, Nueva Vista Group, LLC
Marc Lamont Hill
Host of HuffPost Live and BET News, and Political Contributor, CNN
Brian Levin
Director, Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism
Alexis McGill Johnson
Executive Director and Co-Founder of Perception Institute
Carlos Monje
Director of Public Policy, US and Canada, Twitter
Kamilah Prince
National Director of African American Engagement, Republican National Committee (RNC)
Suman Raghunathan
Executive Director, South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)
Chuck Rocha
Strategist and President of Solidarity Strategies
Juan Williams
Political Analyst, Fox News (moderator)
Jamia Wilson
Movement Builder, Storyteller and Feminist
David Cohen
Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer Comcast Corporation
Charles M. Firestone
Executive Director, Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program
Kiahna Cassell
Project Director, Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program
AGENDA
8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Light Continental Breakfast
9:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. Welcome and Introduction
9:15 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. Opening Keynote
9:45 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. Panel 1: Great Expectations: Do Candidates Rely Too Much or Not Enough from People of Color?
 

96% of African American voters voted for one candidate in the recent Alabama Senate election, and according to a Pew Research Center survey, 66% of Latino voters voted for one candidate during the most recent Presidential election. Do Democrats take the POC vote for granted?  How can Republicans appeal more to people of color?  What are the ways in which people are viewing voting through the lens of race?  How is voting being encouraged, or suppressed?
10:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Break
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Panel 2: Racial Hate Speech and the First Amendment
  Is more speech an adequate solution to hate speech?  If not, what limits are allowable or appropriate when it comes to hate speech?  Have social media platforms compounded the problem by having near ubiquitous and instantaneous reach for almost all voices?  What measures should social platforms or governments adopt to limit racial disparagement?
12:00 p.m. - 12:15 p.m. Closing Keynote

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