Stanford Center for Racial Justice

Critical race theory continues to spark debates across the nation, with many grappling with its implications for education, law, and society. In a recent article by Voice of America News, our Faculty Director and Stanford Law School Professor Rick Banks offers valuable insights into the polarized discourse surrounding CRT and the importance of understanding America's racial history. “What we are seeing is that America is having a very public argument about how to discuss race in our country. It is a conversation about how we talk about the racist incidents in our past but also about how the past continues to shape inequalities in the present. But what makes the topic especially charged is that this is a debate that has reached our children and their classrooms.” Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gvcVEn6V

Learn more about the transformative Stanford Law School S-term course led by Jennifer Eberhardt, a professor of organizational behavior and psychology at Stanford, Bryan Stevenson, founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and Ralph Richard Banks, Stanford Law professor and Faculty Director of the Stanford Center for Racial Justice. The course dove into the complex history of racial narratives shaping American history and justice and invited students to explore pivotal moments, cultural shifts, and ongoing social challenges through interactive lectures, discussions, and a trip to key historical sites in?Montgomery, Alabama. Read the Stanford Report story linked below.

We are thrilled to announce the launch of the inaugural Harry Bremond-Wilson Sonsini Foundation Student Fellowship, open to Stanford Law School 2L and 3L students. The fellowship offers students a unique dual learning experience that immerses them in racial justice work through a wide range of impactful opportunities. Students will spend time advancing innovative projects and initiatives at the Center—developing a deeper understanding of racial justice issues and honing their legal and policy research, writing, analytical, and advocacy skills. Their Center work will be complemented with opportunities to explore pro bono practice at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, through mentorship, a speaker series, and educational engagement with live cases. Applications are now open! Learn more and apply: https://lnkd.in/gAfDT6Dh

Please join us to celebrate the launch of the Harry Bremond-Wilson Sonsini Foundation Fellowship, which offers Stanford 2L and 3L students a unique dual learning opportunity to engage in racial justice work at the Center and explore pro bono practice with Wilson Sonsini. The event will feature a discussion with Mr. Harry Bremond and special guests, moderated by Professor Rick Banks, followed by a dinner reception. This event is open to the Stanford Law School community. Please click the link below to register.

Each quarter, the Stanford Center for Racial Justice hosts part-time internships for Stanford University law students, graduate students, and undergraduate juniors and seniors to support our work to counter racial division and political polarization through rigorous research that analyzes the racial dimensions of some of the most contentious and consequential issues in American society. We are incredibly excited to announce our amazing Fall 2024 cohort, who come from across campus and collectively bring a stellar range of personal, academic, and professional experiences that will contribute to the advancement of racial justice. ? * Rachel Broun, PhD Candidate, Anthropology Stanford * Hannah Cha, BS '25, Symbolic Systems Program * Kimberly González-Zelaya, BA '25, Stanford Urban Studies and Stanford Center for Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity * Sarah Jung, JD '27, Stanford Law School * Luna Laliberte, PhD Candidate, Stanford University Graduate School of Education * Mohamed Nur, JD '27, Stanford Law School * Rashon Poole, MS '25, Stanford University Department of Computer Science * Chaelyn Anderson, BA '25, Stanford Sociology and Stanford University Political Science Click the link below to read our welcome post and learn more about each intern!

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence in society has had a profound impact on our education system. Although education technology has been implemented in K-12 schools for decades, this more recent wave involving generative AI has brought significant optimism about how AI can transform education and improve outcomes for the most marginalized students. Yet, many have also expressed grave concerns about the dangers of AI in education, including its potential to exacerbate already persistent inequalities. Understanding how AI will impact racial disparities in education is critically important to usher in a new generation of technology in schools. Our latest explainer examines current issues that stakeholders should consider to realize the potential of AI to advance educational equity while also mitigating the risk of bias and discrimination resulting from its usage. Read the article by Hoang Pham (Director of Education and Opportunity), Tanvi Kohli (JD '26), Emily Olick Llano (MA '24), Imani N. (JD '25), and Anya Weinstock (JD '24), linked below.

Our colleagues at the?Stanford Law School Rule of Law Impact Lab recently released a report alongside Florida Rising and Human Rights Watch arguing that Florida leaders are reshaping elementary, middle, and high school classroom content through new laws and policies that censor, distort, and discriminate. They suggest that these laws restrict classroom instruction about race in U.S. history, sexual orientation, and gender identity, ban books reducing the information available to students, and promulgate inaccurate and misleading civics and history standards. Read?their report titled, "'Why Do They Hate Us So Much?': Discriminatory Censorship Laws Harm Education in Florida," linked below.?

A big thank you to all of our amazing students from across Stanford University—including Stanford Law School and Stanford University Graduate School of Education—who worked with us this year to help advance our projects and initiatives! You are the heart of the Center and we simply could not do this work without you. ???? Special congratulations to all the graduates—please stay in touch! ????

Earlier this month, “The Unfinished Legacy of Brown v. Board of Education at 70” conference brought together educators, leading scholars, and legal experts to discuss the current state of racial and economic segregation in American schools. A legal panel moderated by Stanford Center for Racial Justice Faculty Director, Ralph Richard Banks, discussed strategies to promote desegregation in the modern day. The panel included Professor Kimberly Robinson from the University of Virginia School of Law, Robert Kim, the Executive Director of the Education Law Center, and Professor Myron Orfield from the University of Minnesota Law School. Our intern, Isabelle Anzabi, highlights the key takeaways from the panel. Read the recap linked below! The conference was hosted by the The Educational Opportunity Project (EOP) at Stanford University and the Stanford Institute for Advancing Just Societies and co-sponsored by the Stanford Center for Racial Justice, Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Stanford University Graduate School of Education, and Stanford Law School.

Our friends at the?McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society are hosting an excellent event Wednesday with Professor?Myisha Cherry, details below! _______________________________________________________________ The McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society invites you to “Failures of Forgiveness: What We Get Wrong and How to Do Better” with Myisha Cherry on?Wednesday, May 22, 2024, from 5-6:30 p.m. at Stanford Law School, Room 190. In?Failures of Forgiveness, Myisha Cherry argues that the ways we think about and use forgiveness, personally and as a society, can often do more harm than good. She presents a new understanding of forgiveness—one that moves us toward “radical repair.” Examining how forgiveness can go wrong in families, between friends, at work, and in the media, politics, and beyond, Cherry addresses forgiveness and race, canceling versus forgiving, self-forgiveness, and more. Myisha Cherry, Associate Professor of Philosophy, UC Riverside, and Director of the Emotion and Society Lab will be in conversation with?Jennifer M.?Morton, Presidential Penn Compact Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania and 2023-24 SAGE Sara Miller McCune Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University. This event is sponsored by the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society at Stanford University. Please note that this event is in-person only, and?RSVPs are requested. Walk-ins are welcome. After the event, there will be a book signing, and books will be available to purchase.?