Civil Rights | Race, Political Participation, & the Roberts Court

The Present and Future of Civil Rights Movements: Race and Reform in 21st Century America

Plenary: Race, Political Participation, and the Roberts Court

Moderator: Kerry Haynie (Duke University, Department of Political Science)

Panel: Ari Berman (The Nation), Richard Delgado (University of Alabama School of Law), Luis Ricardo Fraga (University of Notre Dame, Institute for Latino Studies), Pamela Karlan (Stanford Law School), Taeku Lee (University of California Berkeley Department of Political Science), Neil Siegel (Duke Law School)

Duke Law's Center on Law, Race and Politics hosted a conference on November 20-21, 2015, bringing together scholars and experts to discuss civil rights. In 2014, the nation marked the fiftieth anniversary of the March on Washington, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Freedom Summer. In 2015, we recognized the fiftieth anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Moving into the 21st century, America finds itself at the beginning of a new era defined by its own set of civil rights struggles.

A shifting landscape requires the civil rights movements of the 21st century to shift in line with modern realities. “The Present and Future of Civil Rights Movements: Race and Reform in 21st Century America” presented an opportunity for scholars, teachers, practitioners, and activists to engage with each other as they discuss their unique perspectives on inequalities throughout different facets of modern America.