Established in 2007, through a collaboration of CRS students and faculty, the CRS Symposium is the signature event of the UCLA School of Law’s Critical Race Studies Program. The purpose of the event is to foreground the most innovative ideas and strategies to end racial injustice, to promote learning and collaboration across disciplines, and to integrate racial justice theory and practice.
Director of the American Indian Studies Center and Professor of Law, Angela Riley stands with Associate Professor of Law at the University of Las Vegas and UCLA Alum, Addie Rolnick.
Director Angela Riley moderated the closing panel, And We Are Not Saved: The Future of Race and Racial Justice Advocacy. The panelists were:
3:45 – 5:15 p.m.
Asli Ü. Bâli, Assistant Professor of Law, UCLA Law School
Victor Viramontes, National Senior Counsel, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund; Executive Committee Member, Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice
Priscilla Ocen, Associate Professor of Law, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
Latonya Slack, Principal and Founder, Slack Global Consulting; UCLA School of Law ’94
Bell’s groundbreaking book, And We Are Not Saved, written in 1987 posed this question: “How are we to assess the unstable status of a struggle that all but the most perversely pessimistic predicted would end in triumph many years ago?” That poignant and pointed query challenged the presumptions that racial progress was inevitable and that the country’s sordid racial practices would soon be left behind. Instead Bell insisted on recognizing the contradictions and inconsistencies that are part of the path forward and through the use of metaphorical tales, or chronicles, explored the uncertain future. In this tradition, this panel ponders the future of race, law, and racial justice advocacy. Given the past decade that has included both epic changes and enduring inequalities, what does this portend for the next ten years? What do we foresee as our major challenges and points of contestation? How should we respond? What are litigation and legal advocacy tools that we can employ in the future to address racial inequality?