On Nov. 7 and 8, the Department of History, Philosophy & Religion will host its annual speaker series in conjunction with the Drury Humanities & Ethics Center and the Missouri Humanities Council. The theme of this year’s event is “Race and Mixed-Race: A Global Family?” Both discussions are free and open to the public.

Graphic via Dr. Chin.

Voice of America (VOA) reports that only one percent of American children in the 1970s were mixed-race. Today, 10 percent of American children are mixed-race. According to VOA, “the number of mixed-race Americans is increasing three times faster than the population of the United States as a whole.”

Drury history professor Dr. Hue-Ping Chin sees this series as an opportunity to think and talk about race.

“You see more interracial marriages and unions, so we anticipate a more mixed-race population in our country and worldwide as well,” explained Dr. Chin. “I would like students to learn more about the current situation about not only demographics but the social and cultural environment for people who have different racial backgrounds.”

Past professor returns on November 7

A former Drury professor, Dr. Daniel Livesay, will return to campus on Nov. 7 to speak. His presentation is titled “Making Britain Great Again? A long look at racial attitudes, Brexit, and global migration in the modern world.” It will take place in Reed Auditorium of the Trustee Science Center at 6 p.m.

Photo via Taylor Stanton.

In January 2018, Dr. Livesay published his book, “Children of Uncertain Fortune: Mixed-Race Jamaicans in Britain and the Atlantic Family, 1733-1833.”

“Dr. Livesay, he’s a history professor,” said Dr. Chin. “He’s been doing research to look at interracial marriages and the impact on interracial children. His case is in the Caribbean, in Jamaica.”

Local panelists to discuss mixed-race

On Thursday, Nov. 8, Drury will host a second discussion at the Midtown Carnegie Branch Library located on 397 E Central St.

Students and Springfield residents can participate in a conversation about race and mixed-race in our community and our world. The event will be from 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. that afternoon.

Panelists will include Drury professors Michael Verney and David Derossett, as well as members of the Springfield community. Cheryl Clay, president of Springfield’s branch of the NAACP, and Lyle Foster, the owner of Big Momma’s Coffee and Espresso Bar, will be on the panel.

“I don’t want to say that we live in a cocoon in the Midwest, but sometimes either we are not aware, or we are overexposed. Sometimes we get different information. Sometimes mixed information about issues of race and politics,” Dr. Chin said.

“We like, especially in the history department, to target important issues such as race, gender, class and social differences with historical fact and background,” continued Dr. Chin. “Everybody has opinions, but some opinions have no base whatsoever. When we want to have arguments and form opinions, I think it is very important to understand the history, to understand the facts. Then, we can form a good, solid, critical opinion.”

This speaker series captures Drury’s mission to teach its students to be critical thinkers and informed global citizens.

“The more we talk about race, the more we understand the meanings of that, of a fairly complication situation,” said Dr. Chin.

Written by Taylor Stanton.