The UW-Madison Center for the Humanities held a panel discussion at the Madison Public Library Wednesday about race and racism in relation to the Obama administration.
The discussion, ""Taking Stock of Race and Racism: A Year after Obama's Inauguration,"" featured four UW-Madison faculty members who voiced their opinions and responded to public questions about the impact of Obama's presidency on race relations.
Tracy Curtis, a UW-Madison Afro-American studies assistant professor, said Obama's presidency brought symbolic importance to race and racism discussions but has not brought change into people's everyday life.
""It's difficult for Barack Obama himself, he is just one person, despite that he is the president, to change the way people interact on their day-to-day lives,"" Curtis said. ""In order for race relations to change, it's necessary for people to be involved in interacting with people that are not the same as they are.""
According to Kathy Cramer Walsh, a UW-Madison political science professor, the government cannot change the country in a short period of time as people may have expected.
""We expect impossible things from our president,"" she said. ""It's ridiculous to expect him to change the world in a year.""
Will Jones, a UW-Madison history professor, agreed with the other panelists, stressing the importance of the public taking action and said people should demand the government to work towards eliminating racial inequality.
""I don't want to live in a post-racial society, I want to live in a post-racist society,"" he said. ""I think we all confuse the terms race and racism and I think the problem is racism, not race.""
Doria Johnson, a UW-Madison graduate student who attended the event, said hearing the speakers helped her become more knowledgeable about the topic of racism.
""To hear them talk about, honestly, what Barack Obama means to our current everyday lives, and how they addressed it honestly gave us things to think about,"" she said.
