News Release

Photo note: See URL below to download.

‘Race, Class and Shame’ to be topic
of Harvard scholar’s lecture at UNC

CHAPEL HILL — Dr. Tommie Shelby of Harvard University will discuss "Race, Class and Shame: DuBois on Black Solidarity" on Tuesday (March 7) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The free public lecture will be at 7 p.m. in Hyde Hall, just off East Franklin Street across from the post office. A book signing and reception will follow.

Shelby’s presentation will be based on his book, "We Who Are Dark: Philosophical Foundations of Black Solidarity" (Harvard University Press, 2000). He will explore issues of black identity, poverty and self respect and discuss the work of W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963), the African-American political philosopher, author and civil rights leader.

Shelby, the John L. Loeb associate professor of the social sciences and African and African American studies at Harvard, believes African-Americans are united not just by their race or ethnicity, but more importantly by "the fact of their racial subordination and their collective resolve to triumph over it."

A scholar of African-American philosophy and philosophical perspectives on race and racism, Shelby is a proponent of a new approach to identity politics that he calls "pragmatic nationalism."

The lecture will be sponsored by the following UNC units: the Parr Center for Ethics, Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and the departments of history and African and Afro-American studies. For more information, call (919) 843-5640.

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Photo URL: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/visiting/shelby_tommie.jpg

Parr Center contacts: Dr. Jan Boxill, (919) 962-3317; Carlo Robustelli, (919) 843-5640
News Services contact: L.J. Toler, (919) 962-8589