Duke University Law School Presents: "Hip-hop culture: a convenient scapegoat or a contributor to inequality?"

Mills Conversation Series: "Hip-hop culture: a convenient scapegoat or a contributor to inequality?"

March 21, 2008 -- The Jean E. and Christine P. Mills Conversation Series on Race continues at Duke Law School on Wed., March 26, with a panel discussion on the variously controversial and conciliatory aspects of hip-hop culture.

This event will begin at 12:15 p.m. in room 3041 and is free and open to the public. The Law School is located at the corner of Science Drive and Towerview Road on Duke University’s West Campus, with parking available at the Bryan Center. A light lunch will be served on a first-come, first-served basis.

Three distinguished scholars will lead the discussion on the inter- and intra-racial implications of the hip-hop genre. Duke Professor of African & American Studies Mark Anthony Neal has written extensively about black and hip-hop music and culture in works that include That’s the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. Professor Imani Perry of Rutgers Law School, the author of Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip-Hop, focuses her scholarship on race in law and culture. Professor Mario L. Barnes of the University of Miami School of Law, is a specialist in the areas of criminal and constitutional law and race and the law.

Co-sponsored by the Program in Public Law, the Jean E. and Christine P. Mills Conversation Series on Race is endowed by Amos Mills ’72 with a view to opening lines of communication and improving relationships among people of different skin colors and backgrounds.

The series is organized by Professor Trina Jones, whose own scholarship and teaching focuses on issues related to diversity, colorism, and employment discrimination. The topics for the March conversations were selected, she said, to take a discussion of race out of a strictly black-white paradigm and demonstrate the complexity of race relations in the United States between and within racial groups.

“In addition to examining how whites react to the ‘browning’ of America, we have explored how other groups of color respond to the recent influx of Latino and Latina immigrants ― which actually isn’t a new phenomenon ― through our first two events,” said Jones. “We are acknowledging some of the underlying perceptions of threat, particularly as they relate to the competition for low-paying jobs, and access to social services ― such as health care and education ― that can present a challenge to lower-income Americans."

With a particular view to initiating a dialogue across age groups, the March 26 discussion will acknowledge the cross-racial appeal of hip-hop, Jones said. “It is perceived to be a black art form, but huge numbers of suburban white youths also participate. In addition to taking account of its much discussed negative aspects, we will be examining hip-hop’s opportunities for cross-racial interaction and even healing.”Webcasts are or will be available of all events in the Mills Conversation Series on Race.

For more information, contact Frances Presma at (919) 613-7248.