The editors have asked me to address the current state of race relations. President Clinton posed a similar query over two years ago to a panel of academics and community leaders. From an academic perspective, the investigation of what is race has developed into an exciting area of research.
Academics now define race from multiple disciplinary viewpoints.
Psychologists have demonstrated empirically the extent of unconscious racial biases. Historians continue to show that our history is complex and loaded with racial and ethnic intergoup conflicts. UMC history graduate student Petra De Witt is documenting the history of German Americans in Missouri, and how local laws enacted from 1910-1920 suppressed spoken German. To progress, subordinates must be provided the opportunity to shine. However, superiors parse out such opportunities most often to those with whom they feel most comfortable whites, men, Christians and less often to those who don t quite fit in.