Race in American Justice System, African Nationalism Featured in Next Installments of Lawrence University International Relations Lecture Series

APPLETON, WIS. -- Manning Marable, professor of history and political science at Columbia University, examines the relationship between racial inequality in America and the expansion of the "prison industrial complex" in the third installment of Lawrence University's international relations lecture series, "Race, Ethnicity and Nationality in Changing Societies." Marable presents, "Race, Crime and American Justice," Tuesday, January 23 at 7 p.m. in Lawrence's Science Hall, Room 102.

Marable says current U.S. justice system policies are potentially "far more devastating" than the late 19th-century Jim Crow laws that created a racial caste system in the American South. In his address he will discuss racial stereotypes he feels are inherent in the justice system, laws which have led to a disproportionate percentage of minorities ending up in U.S. prisons and the cultural and economic costs of incarceration.

The founding director of Columbia's Institute for Research in African American Studies, Marable is the author of 13 books on race relations issues, including 1997's "Black Liberation in Conservative America."

M. Crawford Young, professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin, will deliver the fourth address in the series, "Nationalism and Ethnicity in Africa," on Thursday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. in Science Hall, Room 102.

Young will discuss the distinctions between nationalism and ethnicity, the historic relationship between European colonialism and African nationalism and the role territorial boundaries play in African instability.

A specialist on African political development, Young has taught at universities in Uganda, Zaire and Senegal. He has written seven books on African politics, including "The African Colonial State in Comparative Perspective."