thank you so much, charlie firestone, key anna ka sell, as well as david cohen who, as always, put together a fantastic event here. thank you to my good friend, juan williams from that network whose ratings are always halved by the competition. that was my inside tv joke. juan, thank you as always. i learn so much watching you every day as you do the great work that you do. it's an honor to be back at this important discussion that we are about to have. th this year, i want to start with a story that i'm working on right now. in uncommon fashion, i'd like to share it with you before it actually airs. just don't tell anybody. don't tell david. i filmed it wednesday and friday, and my editor and i were in that dark booth yesterday, a monday, for many hours. it will air on msnbc in the coming weeks. with that i want to share with you first with you. >> in the leadup to 1964, birmingham, new york, chicago crackled over racial inequality. >> bricks and bottles were thrown from rooftops. >> it drove that year's voter turnout to century long highs. 94% of nonwhite voters giving lyndon johnson four

[applause] >> good morning to all of you here and thank you so much, charlie firestone, kiahna cassell, as well as david cohen who has always put together a fantastic event here. and thank you to my good friend, juan williams, from the network's ratings are always have to buy the competition. or kind of get that backwards but that was my not so in situ you joke, wasn't it? thank you as always. i learned so much watching you every day, as you did great work that you do. it is an honor to be back at this important discussion that we are about to have this year and the past five years as well. thank you again all. this java to start with a story that i'm working on right now, and in uncommon still fashion obligation with you before actually as. just don't tell anybody. don't tell david. i fielded wednesday and friday. and my editor and i were in the dark booth yesterday coming monday for many hours. it will air on msnbc in the coming weeks. so without obligation or without first, with you. >> in the lead up to 1964, birmingham, new york, chicago, crackle over racial inequality spent brick

i will now turn this over to charlie firestone. [applause] firestone: this symposium will explore the opportunities and challenges for people of color in the 21st century. this year we will look at questions regarding race on campus and on changing demographics in cities and how they affect minorities' quality-of-life. consider how the country made progress on the racial front. we will also examine why similar race related problems persist, and in fact, have intensified in the last year and try to identify a cause of hope that can emerge from this new, multiracial reality. plagued thise country since its colonial times for over 300 years. we've struggled at the time of the adoption of the constitution, during the civil war, during jim crow and the civil rights era and still today. there has been progress on the way of course, but we still face a significant racial issues deal withwe must these issues if our democracy is to survive. today the dialogue will touch on individual and structural causes of racial problems, looking towards

. >> charlie firestone. >> the point about proportional representation was really raised by lani guinier in early '90s, really cut down, unfairly because it an idea but that is what cumulative voting is in corporations. it's done in various places. and it's an idea that really maybe makes sense. it is very hard in this country to get that going but that is an interesting idea, that i just wanted to reinforce, that that's something that could be done if there were political will. >> and if you had that kind of proportional voting, then you would say, it would lead to then proportional representation of minorities? >> here is how, just, take us an instance. you have say 10 congressional districts in a state right now. they are geographic. what you could do is say you have 10 votes. you're in the state of north carolina. i don't know how many congresspeople they have. you have 10 votes, you could put all 10 votes into one person or, you know, five with one person and five in another. what that allows is for minority communities, if they, you know, focused on a few people, to get, let's say

and thank you so much charlie firestone, kiana, and david cohan, who was always put together a fantastic event here. and thank you to my good friend juan william from that network whose ratings are always halved by the cup edition. that was my not so inside tv joke. juan, thank you as always. i learned so much by watching you every day when you do the great work that you do it. it is an honor to be back for this important discussion that we have this year, and for the past five years as well. now, this year i want to start with a story i am working on right now. an uncommonng so in fashion. just don't tell anybody -- don't tell david. i filmed it wednesday and friday and my editor and i were in that dark booth yesterday, monday, for many hours. it will air on msnbc in the coming weeks. with that, i want to share that first with you. [cheers and applause] >> in the lead up to 1964, birmingham, new york, chicago crackled with racial inequality. >> bricks and bottles were thrown from rooftops. >> it drove that years voter turnout. 24% of nonwhite voters, giving lyndon b. johnson four more y