Race, Poverty, and Change in America: The Persistent Dilemmas of Equity and Equality

This two-day symposium commemorated the anniversaries of Brown v. Board, the Civil Rights Act, the War on Poverty, and Lau v. Nichols. These decisions have spoken to the issue of justice in America. Individually and collectively, they represented the potential to reshape the experiences of millions of disenfranchised American children and families. This symposium brought 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 post-racial society. While there have been clear changes in access and equity in America, and few would deny such change, the path to change is worth noting, as is the continued challenge of whether and how justice is enacted. Speakers addressed several important questions as we move forward: What questions and problems persist in multiple contexts in which children and families grow? 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? This even was Co-Sponsored by the Graduate School of Education and the Center for Africana Studies, along with the Annenberg School for Communications, Institute for Urban Research, Law School, School of Arts and Sciences, Social Policy and Practice, and the Wharton Sports Initiative-Wharton School.