• Political Factors
• The Latino Vote
• The New American Identity
• Education
• News Media

The annual event is presented by the Communications and Society Program in association with Comcast Corporation.

Highlights from the 2012 Symposium on The State of Race.

Presentation on the Demographics of Race

American politics are becoming more and more polarized along ideological lines, as contemporary fights over health and financial issues illustrate. What are the implications of this polarization for racial and ethnic minorities? How has the election of an African-American President impacted minority communities and race relations as a whole? How can Americans end the use of race, language and national origin as political and cultural wedges?

Recent polls suggest that Latinos are dissatisfied with both major political parties and less than enthusiastic about the upcoming Presidential election. Politically, many assume that the Democratic Party will gain the Hispanic vote, but with recent shifts in the demographic landscape, how valid is that assertion? How will large Latino populations in states like Arizona and Florida affect the outcome of the presidential race?

Rather than referring to the U.S. as “The Melting Pot”, many suggest that the country is in essence a “hyphenated America”, or a mosaic of cultures and ethnicities. With an estimated 12 million unauthorized immigrants believed to be living in the United States, immigration is an issue that is already shaping politics for the next Presidential election. What impact does immigration and immigration policies have on race relations in America? What is the new American identity?

Schools in America are failing children of color at alarming rates. While the public education system should be a powerful democratizing institution, many charge that it is a stratifying institution that ossifies class difference.

Again, the debate has become polarized. Teacher preparedness and accountability, family engagement, and student expectations account for only part of the achievement gap between whites and children of color. There is a desperate need for public policies, school reform strategies, and teachers, families and students to pull in the same direction. What would it take to dismantle America’s racial education ghettos?

Domestic and international news media influence and directly affect the quality and accuracy of information being shared with the public. News coverage of events, particularly of Presidential elections, display the ways in which the media can play a role in furthering divisions between races and ethnic groups as well as ameliorating them. In the current media environment, what changes are needed to ensure inclusive and balanced reporting? How has news coverage of the 2012 Presidential election affected minority populations? What role should the news media play in solving rather than exacerbating racial and ideological problems?