this summer. send us a tweet at booktv.

>> what are you reading this summer? >> there's a book about machiavelli on my desk that came out several weeks ago. i want to read about it. i want that read that book about machiavelli. then a book called "reckless" which went on in terms of the financial crisis in the country and what led up to it. it involved two locals businesses, freddie mac and fannie mae. i know lots of players. i'm curious to read and find out

what happened there. then there's some things that i want to go back and read. you know, there was recently a controversy about huck finn and the use of the n word. there was a professor who took it out of the text. and this sparked a controversy about sanitizing american history. or in the context of my own book, sort of politically correct speech codes. and how inappropriate it was given the fact that mark twain and samuel clemons wrote it with the power of that word intended. i want to look at the "sanitized." that's sitting on my desk. and then there are two books, i'm trying to remember their names. and i -- an opportunity to help

out the authors that i'm read being of one is by lawrence block. i think it's called a drop of the hard stuff. it's a mystery novel. lawrence bloc to me is a great mystery writer. i think lawrence block is terrific. and lawrence who's a mystery writer that writes about mysteries set in washington, wa, d.c. he has a new book coming out. his wife told me about it, because she exercised at the same y i do. he set scenes on streets that i travel every day. i want to see what george has done. >> tell us what you are reading this of summer. send us a tweet at booktv. >> it takes a behind the stack looks.

>> no webster at the wage of 25 has the seller. he's always brash. he thinks he knows everything. sometimes he does. in 1785, he decided what's wrong with america. he was spot on. the problem is under the articles of confederation, the federal government didn't have enough power. we writes the pamphlet called sketches of american history. he take it is to mt. vernon to george washington. and washington was not a college guy. now webster was a yale man, madison was a princeton man,

john adams was a harvard man. washington wasn't a college guy. he's very increased by webster. he said that's a very interesting idea. he's a great delegator. he says i'll give it to mr. madison as soon as possible. he give it is to madison and the pamphlet becomes instrumental. these are mover and shaker moments. 1787, he's at the convention, first thing he does is knock on washington's door. he's not a delegate. he's there as a journalist. they realized his talents. right after, they ask him to draft a pamphlet.

they have compared that to the federalist. webster's pamphlet was circulated throughout the entire country, and as opposed to the federalist papers circulated mostly in new york. >> we welcome you back to booktv's live coverage of the 13th annual harlem book fair. as we prepare for the final program of the day. coming up, a panel discussion on the first years of the obama administration. >> welcome. to the panel the obama administration: early years. a critique. i guess i should give a disclaimer before we begin. as a sociologist, i formed a working group in support of

obama. therefore, i was a supporter of the obama campaign, and his election. and as several of the panelist were members of that group, from my right to my -- and your left. i'm dr. donald cunnigen, i'm a professor at university of rides, department of sociology. to my right is dr. wornie reed, and also the rest of the center for race and social policy. >> dr. yvonne newsome, associate

professor, and member of the department of africana, and women studies. dr. horton at the state university and also a member of this school of public. the reverend doctor. sheryl and jill. she is the mcair author professor at colby college in maine, and a preacher at a baptist church.

the rev sand dr. johnny b. hill who's visiting at the chapel in college and also a professor at the interdenominational in atlanta, georgia. we'll begin with dr. reed. dr. reed wrote an interesting conversation. related to social justice in the obama age. i have one particular question that i'd like to ask dr. reed. and that is in your article in the work you mention that you felt that barack obama would do very little, or not much. >> yes, i said that barack obama as president would do very little in the area of social

justice. there are several reasons that i said that. i would say the first reason is because presidents do not push such agendas without pushing from the outside. they do not do it unless they are pushed to do so. it reminds me of a story they tell about franklin delenore roosevelt. they provehicle code a program to him -- propose a program to him. they said that's good. you go out there and make me do it. presidents don't tend to step out in front. they have to be pushed to do that. that's one reason. the second reason that i said he wouldn't do much is he said he wouldn't. i'm sure many of e know about his interview, early in his presidency, when he said he was the president of all of the

people, of all of americans, and not just black americans. so therefore, he couldn't push for programs just for african-americans. and he said he would push for programs for everyone. therefore, it would benefit african-americans. now right now we are discussing at this minute social justice. what obama was putting forth was a universal approach to deal with issues. if you cast it, then african-americans would be affected. now that doesn't work too well when you are talking about social justice. because all racial groups do not need social justice. okay. so basically we shouldn't expect much, because he said he wouldn't.

another reason that became evident at the time we were writing this book is that presidents have tended to use their bully pulpit to push programs and policies. mr. obama has been reluctant to push his own legislative agenda. he did not go into office with an agenda to do much about african-american social justice. therefore, i didn't expect him to push there because he doesn't push his own legislative agenda and just to hurry this along. i'll just remind you of what happened during the debate of summer before last on the health care reform when he went awall. another reason it was evident at the time we were completing the book, whenever the issue of race occurred, mr. obama and his

administration did an awful lot of fumbling. sometimes making matters worse. i'll remind you of the henry d. lewis gates, president obama had introduced a bill to banish racial profiling from the state of illinois. he could used that occasion to talk about the need to do such a thing. but he didn't. he quickly devolved the situation into one that could be solved over a beer. of course, it can't be solved over the beer. but got worse. one the heros of the self right movements, andrew brightbach

doctored a tape that he was speaking at a naacp because he comments in a manner to distort what she really said and what she meant. before she could explain, the obama administration had fired her. one of our heros. once again, fumbling on the issue of race. a third instance still occurred. that was van jones. i hope you know the case of van jones. he was appointed as a environmental czar. he was tasked with the issue of fighting for environmental justice. however, because glenn beck went

after van jones, the president fired him. why did glenn beck go after van jones? he went after van jones, because he was a member, but no longer associated with color of change. an organization that caused 29 sponsors to stop supporting glenn beck, because glenn beck was calls president obama racist. these are two known adversaries to the president and to social justice. and he fumbles those. those are the four majors reasons that were apparent to me at the time to suggest that he would not do much in the area of social justice. >> dr. newsome, in a similar sort of vain, in an article or chapter in your book, you explore issues related to a black feminist view of obama's look at social justice issues. like dr. reed, you suggest that

he made mistakes with people of color and how he responded to women's issues, not particularly women of color, but women's issues. would you like to speak to that? and also why you feel the important to discuss obama's administration in the context of black feminism? >> yes. one thing that i like to say to begin with is that black women don't seem in in society as expert on anything. one area that black women have a lot of expertise that should be more recognized is in the area of social justice. black women have a very long and very impressive history of involved in social activism and also a scholarship on this issue. and one the arguments that black feminist have made is that

because become women suffering various forms of oppression, including racism, sexism, classism, for a majority of black women, and even for some, heterosexual, and other forms of inequality, that black women can't afford to focus on only one type of inequality. we don't have that luxury. and so for that very reason, we have been very conscious of multiple forms of oppression. for that reason, we have targeted dismantling the assistance of inequality. some of you maybe familiar with anna jr. cooper, she has a famous quote. i brought it with me. if you bear with me, i'd like to read that particular quote. she's writing in 1892, essay called "a women in america." she's an african-american women with a phd, very impressive for that time period. only the black women can say when and where i enter.

and the quiet undisputetied disani of my womenhood, without vitals and then endure the negro race. i think we can constitute negro with human. because black women has been conscious for groups in the united states and around the world in terms of glass, race, gender. and more in terms of actuality. and one the arguments that i'd like to make is that for this very reason black women can't afford to ignore inequality. for that very reason also, black scholars have spent a lot of time and effort in trying to understand how inequality works in the united states of america. and another argument that i'd like to make is that black women is very day-to-day survival in this country depending on the challenges all of the different systems of oppression. there are times when black women are saying are you a woman first

or are you black first? but -- black women at a time if you will in the situation i'm black first. or in this situation i'm a women first. in reality, they were not discriminated against because we are black or a woman, we are black women. we have unique experiences that are is replicated by any other group in society. from that stand point, we are able to see things in a particular way that i think would be very beneficial to the obama administration, and this goes towards the sense of inequality that we're talking about today. also i'd like to say something about what dr. reed said. i think that's a good example. she couldn't afford to focus on racism. how many are familiar with the

sherrod case that dr. reed talked about? shirley sherrod was the state director of rural development for the state of georgia, and she worked for the united states department of agriculture. and she had given a speech at a local branch of the naacp in march of 2010. in that speech, she had talked about 24 years before, where she had worked with a white farmer and his wife. in that case, she felt the farmer was racist. she was very offended by some of the behaviors. she came to the realizization that, you know, he's oppressed too in terms of class. and she came -- she gave the speech as an example of how she had come to some kind of consciousness about inequality and how it worked and how she couldn't afford to just focus on one type of inequality.

as dr. reed mentioned a moment ago, andrew took the story that she told and manipulated so she could be charged with racism. and tom actually fired shirley sherrod without giving her any chance to explain the situation, explain that the film has been doctored. this is a good example of how we really do need the bosses of people who are situated in the society, people like black women, and high position of influence in may or sitting at the table. people making decisions about who gets fired and who gets hired. i think if that had been the case, that perhaps she would not have been fired. so that's the argument that i make. >> our next panelist, dr.

horton, wrote a collaborative piece with colleagues from north carolina state university, and state university of illinois and chicago. looking at and regarding black and whites attitude on race. one the things they explained was racial differences in perceptions of inequality and justice converged, widened, or remained the same. what did you find? >> well, i tell you, i think that before we can even talk about whether they converged, widened, or remained the same, i think we need to talk first about a little bit of context. when president obama was elected, many in the media and perhaps -- perhaps some even in

the community for talking about an new error of color blindness and a postracial society. that again if is black man could be elected president, the most sacred of white spaces in this society, then maybe the struggle is over. now, of course, we all know that's not true. in the literature and as certainly throughout society, there's been a lot of talk since the civil rights movement and also some of the improvements that our people have experienced as a result of civil rights movement. more of us moving on up, having positions that we didn't have before. there's a question as to is the black community becoming polarized. in other words, as black people befan to have these positions

and began to associate more so with other people, particularly whites in their close relationships, and in their attitudes and their values, perhaps even in the way they vote. are they becoming more -- at least middle class black people becoming more like whites than other black folks? and so this whole polarization argument is at the center of the research that we talked about. and one the things that we did, we looked at the american national election studies from 1986 to 2008, we wanted to be able to capture the phenomenon over time. and one the things that we found out that, well, there was some slight convergence. let me -- let's look behind the numbers. here's the irony. when you look at an issue like affirmative action, when you start looking at the difference,

the gap closed by about nine points. however, it wasn't because whites were more likely to favor affirmative action. in fact, whites were less likely to favor affirmative action. it's because more blacks were less likely to be in favor of affirmative action. and so -- but the ma jr. cap still remains. and this gap is persisted over time. let me point something else out to you when we start talking about a race, class, and voting. you know, obama was elected with 43% of the white vote. okay? in a color blind society. let me say that another way. i want us to understand that. 57% of the white electorate, or

six out of ten whites did not vote for barack obama. okay? so so much for colorless, color blind society. 95% of blacks voted for obama. 67% of latinos, and 62% of asias. what is the message here? now again, harken back to what professor reed was saying about the president's inability or unwillingness to delve into some other social or social issues or rights agenda. we all understand that to a certain extent, a president, particularly black president would have their hands tied to a certain extent. but there's a bitter message here.

president obama became president despite the fact that most white people didn't vote for him. okay? what's the bigger message? in obama can get the presidency, maybe tyrell can get city council, maybe leesy can get the mayor's office and maybe natasha can be governor. do you understand? the true issues, we're not just talking about symbolism. we're talking about is how do we in the 21st century promote the interest of the black community. we're not going to give up the civil rights tradition. perhaps other tools in our arsenal will be needed. like making sure our troops are fit and ready, meaning making sure that everybody is registered to vote and making sure we get a lot of young

people ready to go after those offices. running for offices. if we have more black folks in congress, we wouldn't have a debt problem, okay? i think i want to pause here. i will come back. >> as you were speaking, the affirmative gap between ideas and blacks and whites, i want to come back to that at a different point as an editor that was one of the when reading this particular chapter, we had some issues with that -- i'll just talk about it now. >> okay. bring it on. essentially, he used a data set that was collected by a group of people. the questions were already designed. and the way the question was posed regarding affirmative action, i thought shaped some of the responses.

and because i think that african-americans have a different perception of what affirmative action means than what white people believe it means. >> sure. >> our perception, okay, this is dr. cunnigen's perception, it's not something that's being given to us. some people believe we are taking something away from them that they believe is there. and we have a different perception of american life in our presence as people. and so i thought some of your data reflected the construction and sociology debates these sorts of things all the time. we are not going to talk about that right now -- oh, okay. >> got to give you -- first of all, i want to agree with you. there was a secondary data set. so unfortunately, we could not and did not craft the actual question. so you are right. often times there are -- may

will validity and reliability in terms of what a particular question means to a different person from a different experience. without question. however, when we look at some other issues like questions like it's harder in america for black folks to make it because of racism. that pattern persists. and that one is pretty -- something like that is pretty clear. >> let's not have an argument about that one too. >> or that black people get what they deserve in society. >> they got an argument for that one too. >> and the gap persists. but the bottom line is in every case the majority of black people don't agree with those types of items in terms of they do believe that racism is alive and well. and education is not significant in determines the way black

people perceive america. okay? there is no polarization. >> in other words, no class to mention how we perceive our differents. >> that's right. when they full me over on the jersey turnpike, they don't ask to see my phd. they treat me the same way as they treat the brother that pushes the mop. it's just no different. >> dr. thomas tilth -- say it one more time. >> jilkes. it looks like jilkes, but it's pronounced jilkes. >> it was fascinating. >> thank you. >> i thought they were all fascinates. a fascinating piece on comparing jacqueline kennedy and michelle

obama, and iconic figures in american history and american society. and one the things that she explored was that i like here discussed how has michelle obama influenced ideas on first lady and first families in american life? >> well, it's hard to answer that question because she's still in office and we are only part the way through a first term which i hope will be a second term. and that's part of the problem. when a person comes under secret service protection and at the time that jacqueline kennedy ran -- when john kennedy ran for office and became elected president of the united states, her secret service protection did not start until the day she walked out of their palm beach florida house to go to washington to get ready for the

inauguration. once you come under secret service protection every moment of your life is a public record. where you go, what you do, secret service logs are public documents. so we are just now beginning to understand some of the things that jacqueline kennedy faced and did in the white house, and how much she actually wasn't there, interesting enough, during that portion -- that portion of a presidential term in which she was in residence. remember, they started in january of 1961, their term ended on november 20, in november of 1963. so we're talking about an administration without four full years. but it was an administration without an internet, an administration where newspapers articles and web sites did not have instant commentary by people so that reaction and

reflection to her role as first lady was in the form of the united states mail. to the tune of approximately 9,000 letters a week asking questions from everything to how did you develop such nice posture to do you wear rollers to bed at night and what does your husband think of it and what kind of deodorant do you wear? this was the kind of scrutiny that faced jacqueline kennedy when she -- when they entered the white house. also the kind of financial accounting that is required of political candidates now did not happen then. now we have a -- an administration where we have a first lady who's every move, every day is under a microscope. what she walks off of air force one in tremendous heat to see the grand canyon and is wearing

denim short, not short shorts, denim shorts that are basically the length that people are wearing skirts. sometimes we wish they would wear their skirts that long. it generated a furor. so i had been interested in jacqueline kennedy, partly because of a number of issues around race, class, gender, et cetera, and it was -- i was reading, planning to write this great paper at some point after i retired. then the obama's run for office and they win. i got all of this information about the presidency. so the thursday after the election, i said to my classes, because you had to refrain myself from talking about the election in class. i was so pro obama, there was no way i could dispassionate and objectively talk about obama. you must win. i am an obama momma.

thursday after the election i opened class up for discussion. one the points that i maid to the students was number one, now that he's been elected if you have not read the constitution, go read it. if you have read it, read it again. we have a constitutional scholar in the white house. i also wanted to say, i wish i had, i was at a college campus they were up cheering all night. young white people, we're talking about the 43% that voted for obama, many of them, it was their first election. and they passionately went out to do this. they thought change is coming tomorrow. before the swearing in. >> i wanted to say to them there was a governance issue. the other thing i did say is get a book that talks about how the presidency works every day. how does that branch of the

government where you have an administration that controls approximately somewhere between 11 and 15,000 jobs. i can't remember. depends on congress to get things on to their desk. how are they going to governor. and when a formation when you start reading the commentaries, on web site of newspaper articles, you realize the 53% of white people did not vote for obama has been very, very hostile and very, very negative. they have organized that negativism in a number of ways. what i discovered, and there is a web site, mrso.org that follows her clothes every day. you learn a lot from the commentary on the web site. what you see is the same kind of

fascination are her as occurred with jacqueline kennedy. where now she wears something and from h and m or from the gap or from other -- or kalvin. and it sells out in a minute. or from more expensive venues and it sells out in a minute. when mrs. kennedy was first lady, her clothes were immediately copied in vouge and pattern books and people were walking around wearing them. interesting enough, you had two first lady. their bookends on an era. 1960 to 2008 where the -- all of the change associated with the civil rights, womens movement, gay rights, a whole number of transformations in society have occurred. these two first ladies, both of -- neither of whom is protestant, and neither of whom is central to the white upper class that normally controls that position. you have two first ladies who

enter the white house with straightened hair. one of whom dressed for camouflage and the other who does not. interesting enough when you read the comments, there is this racist fascination with her body. thinking that she should hide herself, that this flesh should not show. it's the same kind of fascination that is reflected when -- in the south when women who were household domestics had to wear hos in the middle of the summer because the employers did not want to see their skin while they served them and did the most inti gnat work. you have the two women. part of it is a form of public supervision. should they really be in that position? how can they be? with michelle obama, because we live in a society that has

resisted african-american womens obtainment of being a lady. remember in the south? segregated bathrooms, white lady colored woman. and so the notion of her being a role model is very hard for people to fathom. when you go -- ironically, after i've said all of that about the comment, if it were not for those web sites, there's a lot that goes on in the white house we would know absolutely nothing about because it is not reported. the outreach to people in washington, d.c. is not reported. whenever there has been a state dinner mrs. obama has made it an opportunity for young people in washington. remember who the majority of young people in washington, d.c. in the public schools are. to come in and see how the white house organizes and preparingesr

these state dinners to have opportunities that debra king who has also written a very, very rich chapter in this volume talks about the mentoring programs that mrs. obama has set up. :

at the end of that first state dinner. most people don't realize there was somewhere between three and 400,000 people who came through that white house in the first year in the various programs that mrs. obama and the social secretary's office manage. [applause] but we only hear about the incidence, the negative incidents so that when the state dinner is reported to reporters as well there were more black people than usual and then they go on to focus on the white people, not telling us to the black people were and then we get to salahi over and over and over again. so, unfortunately, our president and this administration is it a real communications disconnect that is generated by too much fascination by the critics and not enough regular reporting of just what they do everyday. if we knew what was going on

everyday in the white house, we would see a lot more going on. i have some criticism but i also monitor this web site and the obama diary web site and find out we are not learning what is being done and what is going on and how it is affecting everybody, not just us but also in some cases just us. but we don't see those pictures. >> thank you. [applause] >> in your speaking you said they're both not protestant. >> right, but sorry. not white protestant. white anglo saxon protestant. mrs. obama represents a an administration that is the first black both of whom and i use patricia hill collins' concept the outsider within. both of them represent and thank you for correcting my language. both the kennedy demonstration in the obama administration

represent administration staff were explicit targets of the kkk. remember when the kkk reorganized at stone mountain they expanded their hatred for black people to black people, catholics and jewish. yes. the kennedy administration came in, having to show how being catholic would not impede governance and the obama administration came in trying to show how -- would not impede government with some religious deviants thrown in and confusion. i won't talk about that now. but you know, they weren't white episcopalians. and are we sure they can govern? well let us watch every single thing she wears and every single thing she does in representing us publicly and let us pillar

rate every error she makes. with mrs. obama it is the shorts on the plane and and with mrs. kennedy it was a sandals and no stockings going to church in florida. >> thank you. you mentioned dr. deborah king, who unfortunately was unable to make it due to a family emergency, a medical emergency, he wrote an interesting paper regarding mrs. obama and her role as a mother which we will eventually get to with regard to dr. gilkes. >> but not right now. you mean when they come back around. >> yes. our next panelist is dr. hill and he has written a fascinating book on obama and "the first black president." i have a number of questions for him but i will start with one.

the most important question i believe about the contribution of this work is that the obama administration is a direct legacy of martin luther king and would you explain that to us? >> sure. before i sort of address that question directly i want to sort of provide a brief context for the conversation. i think that the biggest challenge is that when obama's him the presidency, it was tremendously symbolic in many ways, just to sort of echo dr. reid's comments about some questions about sort of how successful his administration would be within the context of the historic importance of his presidency. one should not in the minds the importance of him assuming the role as president of the united states, becoming the 44th president of the country. the last 43 were not only white

male and within a certain white supremacist vision of the world. we shouldn't minimize the ways in which his presidency disrupts a white supremacist narrative of what it means to be american and in some ways, when he stepped into office, it shattered in some ways the vision, the narrative what america in terms of what the country should be about and its future as well. so what i try to do in the book, "the first black president," is to sort of make connections between barack obama and the civil rights movement. if you go into many of the barbershops and beauty salons around the country and step into some of the places where black hotties congregate, you will see the sort of comparisons. i remember i just went up strolling up the road the other day and went into united methodist church and saw two pictures, one of barack obama

and the other of martin luther king junior. so in the minds of many african-americans and whites around the country, there is a sense in which there is this connection between the vision, the hopes and aspirations of dr. king within the beloved community with the idea of living in an america where people will be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of her character. so on the one hand there is a sense in which many hope and believe that somehow there's this deep connection between dr. king and barack obama. in fact, when you pick up this newspaper article from the day after obama was sort of identified as the candidate that won the campaign, it reads, since barack hussein obama was elected 44th president of the united states on tuesday, sweeping away the last racial barrier in american politics with ease as the country chose

him as its first lacked chief executive. so this is "the new york times" the day after he was sort of identified as the one who was the winner. i think the real challenge is that no one i think with a rational mind can believe that this country is in any way a post-racial nation. not only are we not in a post-racial america, i argue in the book that we should aspire to be a post-racial america. likenesses beautiful. latino latino bodies are beautiful. asian people are beautiful and so we should look for an america of a tapestry of difference, celebrating differences and affirming the particularities of stories and experiences of different people around the country. so i am concerned about the sort of mainstream conversation that tries to sort of, sort of uncritically accept the notion

that we should be aspiring to a post-racial america. so i challenge the notion that is something we should even be aspiring to but making connections between king and the civil rights movement and barack obama is very important because the shifts in the movements that took place during the civil rights movement are very critical to understanding the current times -- time span. so for instance in 1963 after the march on washington, immediately after that the shift focused to voting rights so the shift from civil rights to voting rights created the context for black lyrical leaders to sort of become embedded in democratic politics that led to the barack hussein obama presidency. >> okay. one of the things that relates to this whole notion of becoming a society in which everyone is accepted and respected for who and what she or he is relates to certain dynamics within the social structure and one of the

things that dr. reid is talked about in his particular manuscript was something called institutionalized thought structure. he talked about that in the context of racism. something that some people have a very difficult time wrapping their arms around and understanding how racism operates, even in 21st century america of the so-called post-racial america. could you talk about that in regards to your notion that racial discrimination still exists within american life? >> yes, that is the other side of realizing that not much will come directly from the president that is not pushed on the outside so what i do in the rest of the article is point out two things, the existence of racism and what we all must do to try to get rid of it. i would say that the first thing to do is you must understand what it is.

the institutionalized thought structure, that is the overwhelming idea that we have in this country about what things are, especially when it gets erased, more than any other is that racism is something that bigoted individuals do in 10 charlie. that is the main essence of the believe in this country. that is what racism is. the intentional work of prejudice of a gifted individuals. i won't spend a lot of time talking about the fact that is individual racism which can be very tough and very rough, is not nearly as consequential as what i would argue is the real racism. that is, a racism that occurs in the institutions of american society. what do we mean by that? educational institutions, criminal justice institutions,

housing institutions and i give a couple of examples just to make it clear. african-americans are about 12.3% of the american population. they are 14% of all illegal substance users, thereby 14% of all drug, it legal drug sellers. however, they are 35% of all people arrested for drugs. they are over half of all people who work in -- convicted for drugs. they are two-thirds of everybody who goes to prison for drugs. that is racism. that is not the result of negative police officers. that is the result of the way the criminal justice system works. it is the places that they -- the police are dispatched to arrest people who are doing these things. a quick example. on the new jersey turnpike back in the 1990s and i'm using this example because many of you have heard about it. automobiles were stopped pretty

regularly, and searched. they stopped many times the proportion of african-americans they represent in the country. as a result, they arrested many more african-americans because they found what they were looking for, often -- not often, sometimes, drugs and guns. so as a result, more african-americans were arrested on the new jersey turnpike. but the data as it came out in all of the whole abu lieu following that and all of the courts in so one was that when they stopped white drivers they got a certain percentage of them with drugs and guns. when they stopped a black drivers they got a certain percentage of people with drugs and guns. always throughout the '90s, the percentage of blacks with drugs and guns were less than that of white, yet they stopped

more blacks. that is racism and it is not bigoted police officers. what happened is governor christie wittman had to fire her state superintendent of the police because of that. so that is just kind of a quick go through of the argument that racism is something that is inherent in institutions. let me put this another way as i and my comments. most of us in this room understand that in order for this country to have slavery and 100 years of racial apartheid, that is from 1865 to 1965, we had to have institutions to carry this out. well, if those institutions haven't changed, they are still racist. and what we want to argue here is that the data support that. at the same time as mr. obama

was being elected, that was -- there was a study by a group of civil rights groups who had put together a big commission headed by two former secretaries of god, henry cisneros a democrat and i am drawing a blank on the republican from the state who used to play for all with the buffalos. yeah, jack kempe. the two of them were the heads of these two commissions and they studied the existence of housing discrimination and i will just quickly say because some of you may know about this, using audit studies. they demonstrated -- they issued their report in october. obama's elected in november. that report said racism still exist them what they were doing is looking up what happened in the last 40 years from 1968 when the housing act was established

to 2008, 40 years later. so it still existed and i could give examples time permitted for almost every other institution in society. so this is what i meant. but every time that we start talking about racism people confuse racism with individuals. racism is not an individual. racism is an act. racism is not what one is. racism is what institutions do. >> just for the record, he has a new book on rochell -- racial profiling. >> the name of the book is racial profiling, causes and consequences, available on kendall. kendall. all of this is a not look. >> dr. knew someone of the things you talked about are some of the events that have shaped how we view race and social

justice in the obama administration with regards to people of color and women of color. could you tell me, what are some of the achievements of the obama administration with regards to social justice issues? >> i think that the obama administration has been much more successful addressing issues of gender inequality that has an addressing issues of racial inequality. i really feel that the obama administration is sort of wary of speaking openly about racism and i think there are a lot of different reasons for that. for example on the issue of gender inequality, actually the first act that obama signed into law as president of the united states of america in 2009 was the lilly ledbetter fair pay act. and that particular act was designed to address a problem that became apparent with a decision that the u.s. supreme court had decided on a 2007.

that was the issue of pay equity in jobs held in common by males and females. lilly ledbetter worked for a good ear for many years and part is for her retirement she discover that male co-workers who had the same job as she had held were actually getting paid much more than she was. and when the supreme court actually heard the case, they ruled against her and the argument was that time had expired i think for her to actually file a suit because they think it had gone -- make it was 160 days. i can't remember the exact number, 180 days or something like that. she had made the argument that each time she received a paycheck that was a separate act of discrimination. congress came up with this law and obama cited as i said in 2009, the piece of legislation

that he signed in this particular act supported what some have already passed in the civil rights act that you can't discriminate in terms of compensation, conditions of work and i think different things like that, in terms of race, national origin, sex, color and religion. and with the lilly ledbetter act they added disability and age. each time that someone receives a paycheck, that is not equal to something that a colleague is receiving, it will be considered a separate act of discrimination. so that was that particular case. so that was significant i think. not only are women going to benefit from that but also many people of color in general. women and men will benefit from this particular act. people who have disabilities and people who are older and discriminated against. one problem however, as i say i

don't -- i think this is a good thing but at the same time it does not acknowledge that much of the discrimination or inequity and pay arises from what we call occupational segregation. that means that people a specific gender, or people a specific gender for people of specific race and gender combined are located in different occupations and the occupations that white males occupy and general are valued more and pay more than the occupations that people of color and women occupy so there is a hierarchy there. this particular act is not addressed this at all. >> there was something else you mentioned though in terms of the transformative nature of his work with regards to women. you talked about commissions that he created for girls and so forth. >> he also stated the white

house council on women and girls. it is really important to talk about the fact that this particular council is structured in such a way that women are going to have -- to every policy decision made in the obama administration, every single one. and the cabinet secretaries are responsible for appointing senior level people to positions on this council and the highest positions, the chair is held by valerie jarrett as you may know and the second highest is executive director held by i can't remember her first name. she is an asian-american woman. we have women of color occupying influential positions in this particular council. what is significant to me also is the fact that obama however hasn't done anything similar in terms of race. so there is no white house

counsel on racism in the united states of america. now, i think he should address some racial issues with american women being on the council. where are they in terms of giving input into these policy decisions? you can think about eric holder who of course is in the justice of -- department who is going to have some influence but you know we also have to think about the fact that people of color within the administration even though they have been assigned to some high-level positions, most positions are still held by men. so still you have -- at the highest level of decision-making when it comes time to make policy decisions. >> dr. horton, he spoke in

generalities earlier about some of your findings and he spoke specifically in the paper about the percentage of responders saying lax get -- by race and education. could you go into more detail about that in the responses of the subject in the survey? percentage saying blacks gets less by race in education? >> basically, what we are saying is that when we start looking at blacks and whites in terms of whether or not they believe that blacks get what they deserve in this society, we find a consistent racial gap and in fact, that racial gap has existed and persisted over time. clearly, and every year from 1986 to 2008, the majority of blacks in the survey actually say that blacks do not get what

they deserve in society. fat percentage for whites consistently with 30% or below. and so, when you start thinking about, and in fact we start looking at the whole issue of polarization. in other words, are blacks who are better at a keg -- better educated more similar to whites that are better educated? that is not the case. in fact, blacks all across the educational stratum feel the same way in terms of how they are discriminated in society and as we pointed out, in the chapter, when you consider the fact that no weather group in this society has experienced the level of isolation that the black population has experience, the fact is that these types of patterns and these types of

opinions process. the reality process. one thing that their survey doesn't really address, but something we are seeing in society that impacts the survey is the fact that i think that most scholars can certainly -- certainly progressive scholars can argue that there has in fact been a white backlash since the election of president obama. and so, to think that things actually would have improved may not necessarily be the fact. >> in fact one might argue that things are a little worse off because as we said, nearly six out of 10 whites did not vote for the president and the reality is, the reality is that there has been a very strong anti-obama element.

in the press and also certainly generally in society. >> without comment, we will move to the question-and-answer period since we have given our cue. what we would like you to do is come to the microphone to my left, you are right, state your name and your affiliation and feel free to ask any questions you would like to any of the panelists on any of the topics. >> while people are coming to the microphone i just want to make a comment and again it is about what we need to know to understand governance and the executives. robert gates who stayed on as defense secretary, when he was fêted for that position in the bush administration, his legal fees were $250,000. that is what it takes to get vetted. and paul farmer who did all that great work in haiti and other places around aid could not make

it through the vetting process. >> thank you for coming today and it is a very informative panel discussion. a couple that i would like to talk to personally, from my personal experience. speier name? >> my name is antoine. i actually live in harlem and i think we can share some information. i am also a writer and a researcher and i wrote a few articles, a few controversial pre-obama election. one of them was the deconstruction of the black messiah. the other one was based upon an article of what happened after obama gets in office and the other one was not me, we for yes

we can. one of the things that, in going into the article, and being knowledgeable of politics and being involved in politics from local to the national level, is that you find that many people, black, white, asian don't understand the makeup, the structure of politics and like you said, read the constitution, understand that there are limitations to what he can and cannot do. we also understand that there are certain protocols and there is also the reality. most people -- weiss did not vote for barack obama and if he goes and he could possibly be a one term president. that being said, i still concentrate on their messiah factor. people are now understanding that this particular president was not all things to all people. and as a result people criticize that. as a panel, you all have written

critical pieces about barack obama and the more i hear, read, experience and research i'm finding that more people are writing articles about barack obama, ignoring the fact that he is black and ignoring the fact that he is democratic and ignoring the fact that he is a singular piece. at the more we write about him, is that a good thing or a bad thing for dismantling people of color, our perception of the black messiah, especially if specially if we are comparing him or directing a bee line between barack obama and martin luther king? speeding if i may respond to that question, thank you so much for your observations. i think we all should be writing. we should be singing. we should be talking. we should be struggling in some form or another and creating a public discourse about what we are experiencing right now. i don't think we can write enough. i don't think we can say enough and i don't think we can sort of

express ourselves enough around these issues because the presidency of barack obama is not just about black folks. it is a global concern. i was in south africa at the time when he was inaugurated and there is a global community that is looking at what is happening right now in the united states because of the global implications of his presidency and if we go just sort of right side -- outside of our doors and see the fact that we live in a very transient society now. so in america we have a microcosm, sort of a reflection of the global community, and so if he moves all of this i think to not only write about it but to speak out more and more about these kinds of concerns. in terms of this comparison or this contrast between king and obama, it came was an african-american baptist preacher. he operated within the context of the church and populist society.

barack obama is a politician. he would be more similar to clayton powell. he mediates the worldwide politics and sort of, this sort of multicultural community. if you look within his own history, obama didn't come through the storm is that where. he grew up in hawaii. his mother was white from kansas. his father was a kenyan. so his experience although he is african and american, is dramatically different from many african-americans who have come through the storm. they can trace their essential history through slavery and the painful nature of racism and white supremacy in this country. so getting a sense of who the man is sort of helps us to struggle in terms of how to respond to the current issues. >> and at the same time may i just add? >> , on, let's go.

>> at the same time with a family in the white house that represents all of the historical moments of the black experience in terms of michelle obama through the eastern south and to be moved inland that took place out of alabama and the great i gration and then what is this major moment in the formation of the black community, community formed by immigration and obama's mother was much more conscientious about teaching him african-american history and the black experience that many black families are today. [applause] >> housing listening to malcolm x. >> and we need to take that seriously. >> okay, we would like you to have brief questions because we want to make sure everyone gets an opportunity. i know you have all the statements you want to give to the public.

just headed for may. >> i am an attorney and a writer and very interested in the comments. to make it read, think particularly professor reed, but all of you interesting comments but more critical of obama then i would be. i would just make these quick points. i think after the context in the mess he had to deal with in getting here i think it is herculean what he has done and two and a half years. i think in terms of the black community, i think he has to look at in the context of not necessarily everything happened to have a black face on it directly what he is doing better you have to look at the stimulus and what he was trying to do, tiger grants, you know for the community. the chrysler and gm bailouts and i mean who are the most unemployed people in the

country? black people and particularly the black male. i think you have to look it eric holder and finally somebody liberalizing the difference between the crack-cocaine versus powdered cocaine which has been an issue since the reagan administration and jesse jackson has been complaining about it. no one has had any success. but you know trying to liberalize it in terms of obama in terms of addressing it. leave this also with the issue of the fact that we just mentioned, where he came from. a lot of people point out that he is of a mixed background, but consider if he actually went to law school to improve his work in the community at on the southside of chicago which is where black people are. the woman he married was it you the full, highly intelligent black woman.

>> still is. >> unfortunately we know what happens with too many, too many of our entertainers, our superstars. they go the other way. i just think, keep in mind i think, i think when you look at what he has done, it may not necessarily have a black face directly on it but i think the impact of what he has done and the image that he has projected have been gigantic for black people. [applause] >> if you can make yours really brief. >> i promise, i promise, promise. i am a free rand -- freelance writer and my question is for dr. hill. dr. hill, it appears that you alluded that president barack obama may not be in touch with

the african-american community because of this mixed-race background. so my question is, do you feel that is the reason why we do not have a council on race, and if you do agree with that, then why? >> well i think that is a really good question. i think he does have sensibilities when it comes to the african-american experience, but in terms of having that direct connection, i mean he is a certain kind of black hearse and. he is a harvard trained, tall -- what i'm arguing is that he is a certain kind of african-american that is acceptable to white mainstream culture. and so in some ways he reinforces the sort of white supremacist vision of what it means to be human because there's a certain projection of humanity that he is sort of betraying. say you don't see him connected

to the brothers out of the schoolyard or even michelle obama. i'm concerned about the ways in which they have not spoken directly to the issues of poor african-american people around the country. >> i would love to reengage with a later time because i respectfully beg to differ. >> i do too. if we follow what she does in terms of obesity she is directly with problems that not only are prevalent in the african-american community but affecting her own child and that is her motivation for making ways for us to be healthier, for the all nation. she is out there with a chill in. >> but she is talking about personal responsibility is wonderful but. >> it is real. she has dealt with the structural issue and she is dealing with the structural issues. >> one more question.

[applause] >> it is a important because we don't see it because it is not reported properly but it is there. it really is there. >> can i also say that basically that is a criticism of obama. the bottom line is that is the type of brother that will get elected. >> are right, now we have a question. >> my name is katherine and i was born and raised in new york. i live in arizona now but despite the arguments, the bible says give honor where honor is due. i hear cnn and i hear fox and they say obama. they do not say president obama. i think us as a people, we should get the honor where honor is due. let's say president no matter where we are or who we are speaking to. let's say president make it our effort to save president barack obama because that is where the honor is due. thank you. [applause] >> president barack hussein obama. [applause] on that note, on the channel

dealing with president barack hussein obama. [applause] i would like to thank the audience for attending this session on president barack hussein obama. [applause] >> and mrs. michelle robinson obama. [applause] [inaudible conversations] case.[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> that concludes bookies coverage of the 2011 harlem book fair. >> i began two years before the bombs began to fall on cuba.

exactly two years impact to the day. april 15, 1959. fidel castro arrived in the united states. dwight eisenhower was the president. richard nixon was vice president. john kennedy was still a junior senator from massachusetts. castro spent most of his visit hugging and smiling and saying all the right things. there were some americans including some in the eisenhower administration who had pretty serious concerns about eisner. many that he was a communist in the making. many found it to be quite

charming and certainly charismatic. after a few days in washington, castro went to new york city. from the moment he arrived what he was greeted like 20,000 people, he had a grand old time. he went to the top of the empire state building. he shook hands with jackie robinson. he went down to city hall. went to columbia university. the policemen who were assigned to protect him, they're all these assassination plots surrounding castro. these were reported in the press every day, and none of these turned out to be real but the police didn't know that. caster was impossible to protect. one afternoon on a whim he decided to go to the bronx zoo. the press followed. federal agents fall. the new york city police follow. and castro did whatever he did at the zoo.

he ate a hot dog and fed to the elephants. before anybody could stop him he climbed over a protective railing in front of the tiger change and stuck his fingers right to the cage and patted a tiger on it. this is the sort of thing castro did to make people think he was crazy. besides trying to save castro from assassins and tigers, americans spent much of his isn't trying to decide this policy which meant answering the following question, was fidel castro a communist? you have to recall that in the late 1950s and early 1960s the battle against the so-called international communist conspiracy was the organizing principle on which american foreign policy was based. it wasn't just that spread of communism that was so. and it was the fact that congress had nuclear weapons. given the rhetoric coming out of the kremlin saying all sorts of things like we will bury you,

they seemed more and more willing to use them. i emphasize this, point out, 90 miles from american shores was simply intolerable. and not just conservatives like barry goldwater, richard nixon, that really to everybody. so, castro was interrogated on the subject of communism everywhere he went on his visit. i vice president nixon, congressional subcommittee, scores of journalists. everyone asked him the same question. doctor castro, are you a communist? and he answered the same every time. no, he was not economies, never had been, never would be. when castro left new york on april 25, the police were relieved to see him go. but most new yorkers were happy it come to visit. an editorial in the new york times summed up the attitude as he left, quote, he made it quite clear that neither he nor anyone of