University administrators were reportedly wary of violating a state law that restricts certain discussions of race.
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Professors at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock have nixed plans to participate in history lectures on racism and racial equity, due to censorship concerns, the Arkansas Times reported.
The newspaper reported that professors first raised concerns last month when the university scrubbed mentions of an upcoming “Evenings with History” lecture series from the university website. Administrators were reportedly concerned that two of the lectures could prompt scrutiny from state officials, specifically a February lecture titled “Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and the Death Penalty in Arkansas and the United States,” and a discussion with David Roediger about his memoir, which is titled “An Ordinary White: My Antiracist Education” scheduled for April.
University of Arkansas at Little Rock history Professor Barclay Key initially raised concerns in December in a memo to the Faculty Senate, obtained by the Arkansas Times, that recapped a conversation between himself and three high-ranking administrators.
Key noted concerns about the two lectures and that the administrators proposed changing the title of the first event and adding language to the description of the memoir discussion in order to avoid running afoul of state law that restricts certain discussions of race, according to the professor’s Dec. 19 memo.
Key wrote that he declined to make the requested changes.
“I also asked for clarification about how we are violating the law because the Department of History takes the law very seriously,” Key wrote, adding the administrators present confirmed they weren’t violating the law. “In search of further clarification, I pointed out that the law explicitly allows the discussion of ideas, history, and public policy that may be controversial or ‘that individuals may find unwelcome, disagreeable, or offensive.’ As the conversation unfolded, it became clear that this entire effort revolves around guessing what might offend some state legislators.”
Faculty members decided not to participate in the two lectures, which are operated in tandem with the nonprofit University History Institute. However, other lectures in the series remain on the schedule, such as a March event titled “The Making of a Propaganda Society in Rural China.”
Officials told Inside Higher Ed by email that the university “is reviewing its participation in the lecture series for compliance with applicable legislation.”
The move adds to academic freedom concerns in the University of Arkansas System after officials rescinded a job offer to Emily Suski, who was set to become dean of the law school, over political backlash. Officials pulled the offer after lawmakers raised concerns about the fact that Suski had signed an amicus brief supporting transgender athletes.
