michael lomax, who will share his thoughts with us before we move to the panel. he is one of our nation's foremost leaders in advocating racial equality and justice. for years, dr. lomax has been encouraging americans to see education as the pivotal area where racist dynamic must be acknowledged and addressed. and it is noteworthy that tonight, as we begin to some of the challenges of racial division in america, the president obama just this week introduced a blueprint for an updated elementary and secondary education act that will overhaul the troubled behind, and i know that dr. lomax agrees that the president is confronting a pervasive racial stereotype when he asserts, "that all students should graduate from high school prepared for college and a career, no matter who you are and no matter where you come from." as president and ceo of than united negro college fund, dr. lomax heads the nation's largest and most effective minority education organization. through its member colleges, universities, scholarship programs, an advocacy activities, uncf is dedicated t

michael lomax from the united negro college fund. next we have dr. michael lomax -- dr. thomas sugrue, author of the forthcoming book on some of these issues, although "not even past -- barack obama and the burden of race." [applause] we all got the memo of the color of the tie? [laughter] next we have somebody that probably needs no introduction, given the affinity that many people have for the memory of his father, not just in this country but around the world. of course we're talking about the late rev. dr. martin luther king, jr., and one of his esteemed sons, martin luther king iii. i believe that his twitter named in @kingiii. martin luther king iii, we're glad to have you here honoring your father's memory. [laughter] you thought i was joking about the coordination of the ties. we're very pleased to have gwen ifill, moderator and managing editor of the popular pbs -- pbs show, "washington week." she has served as moderator of presidential debates, most recently in 2008, which featured joe biden and sarah palin. she has written a book on these topics. ladies and ge

when i fall and michael lomax region -- gwen eiffel and michael lomax. this is an hour and 40 minutes. >> before we get started, i want to thank the knight foundation for generously underwriting then-senator barack obama stood on this very stage and delivered one of the most important speeches of that campaign election, and some people would argue, one of the most important speeches ever said it in america. in that speech, the original that he used is now an hour core exhibition, signed by barack obama. he challenged the american people to face the complexity of race in this country. to make knowledge, as you heard, the racial stalemate we have been stuck with for years. for many citizens, his message resonated powerfully, the message that by working together, we could move past racial wounds and continue on a path toward a more perfect union. after president obama's election, at the notion of the post-racial election seemed to move inevitably toward the forefront of the national constant justness -- consciousness. people last, it isn't america post-raci

michael lomax and i served on the board of commissioners in fulton county, basically atlanta. i was honored to serve with him as chair during the time i was there. one of the things i hated to do, we had to stand up and go to this brand new jail and cut a ribbon and honor while there is a place for jail. some people perhaps need to be in jail, but the tragedy is that jail is probably 98% african-american. now, that's not in fulton county in atlanta. that is -- those numbers are high. there's something inherently wrong with the criminal system. it is not a justice system. there is some serious racial -- racism in the criminal system and we call it criminal justice system but 13% of the population can't continue to comprise 60%, 70%, 80% of the criminal system. that must change. now, there's a responsibility on the community side and a responsibility on the side of our society. we need an incredibly more i think gent defense. but in our own communities there is the notion that says if you train a child in the way they should go when they are old we should not depart from that pr