OXFORD, Miss. \u2013 The historical and cultural connections between African-Americans and Jews during World War II will be discussed by representatives from both groups April 30 at the University of Mississippi.<\/p>\n
The event, titled “Two Sides of a Coin: Reflections on Racism, the Holocaust and the Power of Prejudices,” begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Overby Center, Room 147. A reception will follow and the public is invited to attend.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“This is the final lecture in a six-part series featuring scholars and other noted speakers of Judaism and cultural history,” said Willa Johnson, a UM associate professor of sociology who wrote a $22,000 grant for public programming that was awarded to the UM Critical Race Studies Group by the Association of Jewish Studies-Legacy Heritage Jewish Studies Project in 2011. The grant supports public programming at UM in 2012-2013 through a lecture series titled “Intertwining Legacies: Jews and African-Americans in the Deep South.”<\/p>\n
Panelists for the discussion include Brooklyn artist Fred Terna, a Holocaust survivor of Lipa, the Terezin Ghetto, Auschwitz-Birkenau and Kaufering IV, a subcamp of Dachau; and Eugene Richardson, a Tuskegee airman and educator. Krista Hegberg from the United States Holocaust Memorial and Museum will introduce the men and the topic by providing a bit of cultural background about the Holocaust and the period as experienced by African-Americans and Jews.<\/p>\n
Previous lectures in the series featured W. David Nelson, Sander L. Gilman and Bloomberg News managing editor Jonathan Kaufman, a Pulitzer Prize winner.<\/p>\n
Co-sponsors lending support to the lecture series include the university’s African-American Studies Program; Center for the Study of Southern Culture; College of Liberal Arts, the departments of History, Philosophy and Religion, and Sociology and Anthropology, Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College and the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies; School of Law; Trent Lott Leadership Institute; and William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation.<\/p>\n
“Fred Terna and Eugene Richardson are remarkable men whose lives make learning about the intertwining legacies of African-Americans and Jews both an honor and a necessity,” Johnson said. “Their presence alone underscores the importance of studying the real life impact of racialized prejudices.<\/p>\n
“The Critical Race Studies Group, led by Jeffrey Jackson, is so pleased and immensely proud to close the series with such historic figures.”<\/p>\n
The series of lectures is the work of many collaborators, Johnson said.<\/p>\n
“Intertwining Legacies would not have been possible without the generous funding by the Association for Jewish Studies-Legacy Heritage Jewish Studies Project, our campus partners and the behind-the-scenes work carried out by several faculty members, including Kirk Johnson, associate professor of sociology and anthropology and African-American studies; Barbara Combs, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology and Southern studies; James Thomas, visiting professor of sociology and anthropology and Southern studies; Jodi Skipper, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology and Southern studies; Jennifer Snook, sociology instructor; Matthieu Dessier, sociology instructor and documentary photographer; Andy Harper, director of the Media and Documentary Projects Centers; John Green, associate professor and director of the Center for Population Studies; Kirsten Dellinger, associate professor and the chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology; and Jeffrey Jackson, associate professor of sociology and anthropology, and a host of administrative support from Elaine Abadie, Evelyn Braxton and Callie Casteel,” she said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"