Throughout the presidential election campaign, the topics of race and gender “are always the elephant in the room,” said Boston Public Radio host Callie Crossley in a forum on Tuesday night.
Crossley and Harvard Law School professors Lani Guinier and Kenneth Mack brought their concerns about race to light in a panel at the Harriet Tubman House, arguing that race has not been addressed openly in the campaign.
“We’re talking about something that’s not being talked about,” Mack said. “The irony of having the first African American president makes you oddly enough less likely to talk about race as a society.”
More than 70 people attended the panel, hosted by United South End Settlements. The panel weighed in on why race is avoided and what perceptions voters have about the topic. Brandeis University professor Anita Hill moderated the panel.
The panelists said culture is at fault for this taboo.
“It is the way our culture has defined race,” Guinier said. “It’s about identifying an atmosphere we are all breathing.”
The burden of changing these attitudes falls on citizens, Guinier said. He noted that people must exercise their political power to push for racial and gender change, from voting to actively promoting the message of the campaign they support.
“This is a challenge for all Americans to figure out how we can have a conversation on race that’s also a consultation on class where we directly address the way race and gender intersect,” Guinier said. “We need to rely on us to change the conversation, not on the president of the United States.”
Mack said there is a sustained argument between the Democratic and Republican parties on gender.
“It’s not just things about contraception or abortion, it’s about equal rights to advance equally in all the sectors of America and society,” he said.
Chad Williams, associate professor of African and Afro-American Studies at Brandeis University and coordinator of the forum, said the discussion was organized to inform the public ahead of the presidential election.
“Issues like race and gender lack substance and a level of seriousness,” Williams said in an interview. “It’s important to give people the opportunity to learn how race and gender are engaged and shaping the presidential election, but also the reason in which we are voters, so we can engage our issues and decisions two weeks from now.”
Members of the Boston community who attended the conversation said it was informative and helpful.
“I thought it was terrific, and the opportunity to hear the panelists speak was thought provoking and raised really important issues around how change can happen,” said Joan Tiffany. “It is our responsibility on the outside to impact what is on the inside power structure, because we have more power than we think.”
Malika Imhotep, a Brandeis sophomore, said while she still has questions, the speakers were able to expand her viewpoint.
“I wouldn’t say that it answered all my questions and concerns, but it definitely gave me several different views on how to think about it [race and gender],” Imhotep said.
She said she had been considering the role of race and gender in the election before the discussion.
“It was also nice to hear things that I’ve been thinking and things that my friends have been saying just voiced in a more structured academic context because it kind of validates [what I’ve been thinking],” Imhotep said.
Carl Williams, 71-year-old father of Chad Williams, said the panel applies beyond the current campaign season.
“The panelists’ responses to the questions and responses all blended in together to help some concerns and questions I’ve had with race and gender,” he said, “not just in this election, but in the whole [of] politics.”
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