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DTSTART:20251102T020000
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UID:calendar.67637.field_date.0@calendar.lafayette.edu
DTSTAMP:20260721T110922Z
DESCRIPTION:In this talk\, Dr. Ray draws on two central critical race theor
 y \nconcepts—racial progress narratives and interest convergence—to explai
 n \nthe current backlash to racial inclusion. The democracy-enhancing succ
 esses \nof the Civil Rights Movement were\, in part\, a response to Cold W
 ar \nimperatives. Political exigencies\, including the need to counter eff
 ective \nSoviet propaganda that capitalized on American racial hypocrisy\,
  led elites \nto favor integration despite the potential domestic politica
 l costs. \nAnalyzing this process\, Derrick Bell developed his highly infl
 uential \ninterest convergence thesis\, arguing that racial progress was l
 ikely only \nwhen white and black interests aligned. Converging interests 
 transformed \nAmerican organizations as schools\, churches\, and businesse
 s incorporated \nformerly excluded people of color. Ray argues that the ri
 se of autocratic \nregimes abroad has created a political opportunity stru
 cture deepening \ndomestic polarization and threatening to reverse the pro
 gress organizations \nhave made towards diversifying. External Cold War er
 a checks on American \nauthoritarianism that were central to the success o
 f the Civil Rights \nMovement have broken down as autocracies have risen g
 lobally. Contemporary \nlevels of polarization signal that we have entered
  a period of 'interest \ndivergence' as some Americans—empowered and inspi
 red by international \nauthoritarian movements—have abandoned the project 
 of multi-racial \ndemocracy.\n\nSociologist Victor Ray is F. Wendell Mille
 r Associate Professor in the \nDepartments of Sociology and Criminology an
 d African American Studies at the \nUniversity of Iowa and a Nonresident F
 ellow in Governance Studies at The \nBrookings Institution\, and a Carr Ce
 nter Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy \nSchool.
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250220T161500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250220T173000
LAST-MODIFIED:20250205T180054Z
LOCATION:Oechsle Hall 224
SUMMARY:Ethnographic Research Colloquium: U Iowa Sociologist Victor Ray on 
 'Critical \nRace Theory and the Interest Divergence Dilemma'
URL;TYPE=URI:https://calendar.lafayette.edu/node/67637
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