Defining the State of Black and Brown Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Latinos and African Americans in Arkansas face many of the same difficulties: limited access to health care and education as well as a lack of political representation.

Experts in politics, business, health, family and education will visit the University of Arkansas campus April 24-25 to present papers and discuss the contemporary condition of blacks and Latinos in Arkansas. Their visit is being sponsored by the African American studies program and the Latin American studies program and is being underwritten by the Diane D. Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

Todd Shields, political science chair and director of the Blair Center, decided to sponsor this conference because it fits so well within the center’s mission.

“The same vision that drives Fulbright College drove Diane Blair. She was committed to supporting research that contributes directly to improving the lives of people in Arkansas. This conference will help us move closer to addressing and solving some of the most serious problems Latinos and blacks struggle with daily.”

Charles Robinson, director of African American studies, said the focus is on African Americans and Latinos because they are the two largest minority groups in the state.

“By understanding the conditions of these two groups, we gain a better understanding of how race and ethnicity impact life and opportunity in Arkansas,” said Robinson.

The presented papers will be used as part of an edited volume examining health, education, politics, family and business among these populations.

Describing the purpose of the conference, Steve Bell, director of Latin American studies, said, “While the African American and Hispanic communities have had very different historical presences in Arkansas, their full opportunity for participation and self-realization is crucial if our state is to reap the benefits of cultural and ethnic diversity. Today in Arkansas, as in other parts of the so-called ‘New South,’ we have a chance to rewrite history and establish truly new and reciprocal patterns of inter-ethnic relations. We have much that we can learn from one another.”

The public is invited to all the forums, receptions and the cultural festival. Following is a schedule of events for the two-day conference:

Thursday, April 24, 2008

10:15-10:45     Light reception outside of Giffels     

10:45-12:45     First panel session: Family and Health, Giffels Auditorium
   
                           Randy Capps, Urban Institute
                           Cesar Compadre, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
                           Wynona Williams, Minority Health Commission
                           Will Torrence, University of Nebraska-Omaha

                          Nestor Rodriguez, University of Houston
                          LaGuana Gray, Grambling State University
                          Barbara Lofton, UA Sam M. Walton College of Business
                          Joyce Elliot, Arkansas State Legislature