Thurs., 2/23/12: The Ivy Leagues: Shackled to a Shameful Past

The Ivy Leagues: Shackled to a Shameful Past

We're marking Black History Month with a look at the ties Ivy League universities have to slavery. Though slavery is still largely considered a Southern institution, it's an American institution that's touched ever corner of the nation, including the country's esteemed universities. From Amherst College, to Harvard University, these institutions were built on the backs of slaves. With Brown University leading the way, universities have recently started confronting the uncomfortable truths about their connection to slavery and the implicit racism that came with it. Now that our academic institutions are exhuming their pasts, how should we be talking about slavery in the 21st century?

GUESTS:
  James T. Campbell, Edgar E. Robinson professor in United States history at Stanford University, chair of the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice
  Craig Steven Wilder, professor of American history at MIT, author of the forthcoming book Ebony and Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America's Unviersities 
  Katherine Stevens, graduate student in theHistory of American Civilization program at Harvard University, co-author of Harvard & Slavery website.