- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

Tell-Hall explores reasons for removal of West Rock

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 13 Dec 2019 15:23:22 +0000

A graduating student is shedding light on the removal of one of Little Rock’s first working class African-American suburbs, West Rock, as part of the city’s urban renewal efforts of the 1950s and 60s.�� Nancy Tell-Hall, who will graduate Dec. 14 with a master’s degree in public history, studied the city’s removal of the neighborhood for her master’s thesis, “Urban Renewal PROJECT-ARK-4: The Demise of West Rock, Arkansas: 1884-1960.” West Rock was a part of what is now the Riverdale neighborhood near Fred Allsopp Park and downhill from present day Hillcrest. West Rock provided affordable housing and accessibility to many people who had domestic, service, and labor jobs. The Slum Clearance Referendum of 1950 allowed Little Rock to accept federal assistance to remove dilapidated urban housing under the guise of “urban renewal.” “The Little Rock Housing Authority and city leaders had all of them removed by 1960,” Tell-Hall said. “The plan to remove West Rock started in 1926 because the city needed to open the westward corridor to make room for segregated western suburbs and to expand Highway 10. They knew the property would be very valuable one day.” When Little Rock bought West Rock, the city estimated the land was worth about $59 per acre. The city purchased the property at that price and sold it for $12,380.03 per acre. The residents were relocated to other areas of the city. Just this spring, some of the land in the area sold for more than $475,000 per acre. “Today, that area is prime, commercially zoned land,” Tell-Hall said. “I often think about the residents forced to move. Some families owned West Rock land for generations. There are those who say the Housing Authority did them a favor by providing the residents a better place to live. However, a 1960 newspaper article wrote the Little Rock Housing Authority was about rehabilitating neighborhoods. I wonder why they didn’t upgrade the housing that was already there. Removal was not rehabilitation.” Tell-Hall researched primary historical documents from the time to tell the story of West Rock’s creation to its removal in 1960. She has also created an educational website about West Rock public use.�� In addition to telling the story of West Rock, Tell-Hall has been involved in promoting the history of racial justice in Arkansas. In 2018, Tell-Hall won second place in the F. Hampton Roy Award competition for her paper revealing the unusual circumstances surrounding the desegregation of Fisher’s Bar-B-Q in Little Rock in 1962. Unlike many sit-ins and Freedom Rider protests that targeted white-owned or white-controlled operations, the protesters targeted an African-American owned business that segregated its customers.�� Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Department of History recognized Tell-Hall’s civil rights research earlier this year when she was awarded the department’s $5,000 Little Rock Nine Endowed Scholarship, which is awarded to a graduate student focused on race relations and community development. One lesson Tell-Hall wants to emphasize to all college students is that it’s never too late to complete your education. “I find it very exciting,” said Tell-Hall, 58. “I’ve heard people say that 50 is the new 30. I talk to a lot of people who wish they had gone to school, and I recommend to anyone who is older to go to college. I was often older than my professors, and I found that younger students appreciate having older students who have lived through some of the experiences you talk about in class. I remember studying about the night the Berlin Wall fell. I watched it all on CNN! I think people appreciate hearing living history.”

Nancy Tell-Hall at Allsopp Park. Photo by Ben Krain

Tell-Hall left college in 1979 to concentrate on raising her son. The two family members coincidentally graduated together from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 2017, both having earned bachelor’s degrees. Four decades after leaving college, Tell-Hall’s college education is now complete after earning a master’s degree. “Originally, I considered 2017 the year my academic journey ended,” Tell-Hall said. “I never considered going to grad school. While it is true that grad school can be intense, it was rewarding beyond imagination. To be considered a ‘master’ in the field of racial and ethnic American history is quite satisfying and exciting.” After graduation, Tell-Hall and her husband of 37 years, Jeffrey, plan to move to Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the capital of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Tell-Hall became a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in 2012 after discovering her father’s unknown lineage. There, she plans to put her history research skills to work for the tribe. While at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, Tell-Hall has worked as a graduate assistant with the Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity, interned with the City of Little Rock Planning and Development Department, the Sequoyah National Research Center, and volunteered with the National Register of Historic Places. “Nancy flourished as a graduate assistant at the Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity, which provided the hands-on experience that will help her land what she describes as her ‘dream job’ upon graduation,” said Dr. John Kirk, George W. Donaghey Distinguished Professor of History.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock professors featured in podcasts recalling city’s conflicted past

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 22 Jul 2019 13:03:46 +0000

As the director of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity and Donaghey Distinguished Professor of History, Dr. John Kirk often serves as an expert source for journalists, students, and researchers looking to learn more about Arkansas’s history in race relations and civil rights.�� A year ago, he was asked to participate in an unusual project. Laura Dunnagan, a Little Rock native, had moved out of state to study poverty and development studies at Davidson College in North Carolina. Feeling conflicted about whether she wanted to return to her hometown after graduation, Dunnagan used her senior project to complete a series of podcasts that explored the city’s post-World War II history with crime, poverty, race relations, and urban development.�� “Laura is an interesting case,” Kirk said. “She’s a local lady from Arkansas who is trying to understand the city that she grew up in better. She is investigating the different dynamics that have shaped the city. It’s interesting that someone like Laura, who is from the city, is now studying Little Rock from an outside perspective. She is interested in understanding how the city’s historical roots are still important in addressing the issues we are facing today.” Last summer, Dunnagan returned to Little Rock and interviewed more than 30 people to discover how Little Rock’s history in segregation, city planning, municipal budgeting, and the role of perception transformed the city over the last six decades. She interviewed historians, politicians, city and community leaders, journalists, police officers, educators, and nonprofit workers. “When I think about the city, I usually think of my favorite parts…,” Dunnagan said in her first podcast. “I also think about the parts of the city that are hard to reckon with: the limited economic mobility that plagues the South; the differences in how people are treated based on race, class, and where they live in the city; our history of segregation and the ways the city perpetuates it. I hesitate to go home and return to a city where these inequities are so clear and are hardly acknowledged in a meaningful way.” Participants interviewed in the podcast include Assistant Chief Hayward Finks of the Little Rock Police Department; former Arkansas state legislator and 2018 mayoral candidate Warwick Sabin; Little Rock City Board of Directors members Gene Fortson, Ken Richardson, and Doris Wright; Austin Kellerman, KARK news director and founder of Victory over Violence; Mike Poore, superintendent of the Little Rock School District; Glenn Hersey, outreach pastor at Saint Mark Baptist Church; and Leifel Jackson, founder of Reaching Our Neighborhoods and Children. “I knew conversations about crime would be at the forefront of what was happening in Little Rock during the mayoral election,” Dunnagan said. “If I could use crime as a way to understand Little Rock, I knew it would make an interesting story in a way that people in Little Rock will find topical.” At ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, she interviewed Kirk as well as Dr. David Montague, professor of criminal justice, and Barrett Allen, director of the University District Development Partnership. “I spoke mainly about my research and how Little Rock has changed since World War II and its impact on race and race relations in the city,” Kirk said. “That research is being used by different users in lots of different ways, from college projects to major news organizations like.” At the end of her project, Dunnagan also felt encouraged by people trying to make positive changes in Little Rock and urged residents to get involved in their community. “I would encourage people to stay aware of the news and watch the City Council meetings because knowing what is happening in the city is crucial to doing any activism,” she said. “I would also recommend getting involved in your own neighborhood associations. Because there are so many opportunities to get involved and to help the community in Little Rock, it is hard to prescribe one thing that would be most helpful.” Dunnagan’s podcast series and more information about its creation can be found at. The podcasts are also available through Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Play.

Little Rock community members discuss race, ethnicity, and popular culture

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 14:32:37 +0000

When Jimmy Cunningham Jr. once visited Hawaii, a group of Hawaiian children surprised him with their ideas on how black people act.�� “Native Hawaiian children, who had seen popular videos on television and social media, told me what it meant to be black,” Cunningham told an audience of more than 70 people at the Racial Attitudes Conference April 17 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. “They said, ‘You got to have attitude; you have to be angry; and you have to be able to tear something up,’” Cunningham said. “I asked the kids, ‘Have you ever seen Oprah tear anything up?’ They said, ‘Well, she doesn’t count.’” Cunningham, executive director of the Delta Rhythm & Bayous Alliance, described the encounter during a community panel about the survey results that focused on attitudes toward race, ethnicity, and popular culture in Little Rock. According to the survey results, a majority of blacks and half of whites say the way blacks are portrayed in television and movies hurts day-to-day public perceptions about racial and ethnic stereotypes. This encounter, Cunningham argued, is proof that the way blacks are portrayed in popular culture influences how black people are perceived by others. “When you talk about media portrayals, the representation of what it means to be black is impacted profoundly by people who only see what comes across in popular media,” he said. “This was a very eye-opening experience.” During the survey, the Survey Research Center in the School of Public Affairs interviewed more than 400 white and 400 black people in Little Rock by telephone along with 115 Hispanic respondents. This year’s survey covers a wide range of themes related to popular culture including social relationships, social media, television news, media representations of race and ethnicity, music, residence, and sport protests. “The survey reveals the very different ways in which Hispanics, blacks, and whites consume and relate to popular culture, as well as demonstrating some common understandings and similarities,” said Dr. John Kirk, director of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity. “Notably, and strikingly, for example, there seems to be a good understanding of and significant support for the NFL ‘take a knee’ protests across racial and ethnic lines.” In the race, ethnicity, sport, and protest section of the survey, a majority of blacks, Hispanics, and whites believe that the football players’ protests are trying to call attention to racism and unfair police tactics and are not trying to disrespect the military or veterans. A majority of all three groups also think that a professional athlete or team who protests an issue by not standing for the national anthem is demonstrating the freedom the anthem represents. Another section of the survey the panel discussed was the results on race, ethnicity, and music. Panel member Stephen Koch, writer/host of “Arkansongs,” a weekly radio program examining and celebrating Arkansas music and musicians, was disappointed with the results that showed people in Little Rock often listened to music along ethnic lines. “We’ve always been told music is a place where our ethnicities don’t matter,” Koch said. “If we are supposed to be sharing culture, we should be sharing our music. Maybe thinking music is a place we can come together is another fallacy.” The survey results found that whites listen to rock, country, and rhythm and blues music often or sometimes, while blacks listen to gospel, religious music, jazz, rap, and hip hop. Hispanics, meanwhile, listened to gospel, religious music, and salsa or Spanish rock often or sometimes. “Who are these white people who aren’t listening to jazz, and I know everybody is listening to hip hop!” Koch said. “We can still come together, but we need to start listening to each other’s music.” Miguel Lopez, Hispanic resource officer for First Community Bank, identified music as one of the avenues that can bring divided communities together. “We tend to say Little Rock is a very divided city, but where we’re not divided is how we interact,” Lopez said. “It’s music or food or sports that can bring us together. We have those avenues where people can come together and realize that we have a lot more in common than we are different. I think the best way to combat racism and bigotry is to interact together.” He was also interested in the survey results that showed Hispanics were the most likely of the three ethnic groups to use social networking sites. “Most Hispanics in Little Rock are first-generation immigrants, so social media is a great avenue for us to stay in touch with loved ones,” Lopez said. “Hispanics are also very entrepreneurially minded, and social media is a great place to boost small businesses.” In a follow-up remark, panel member Kara Wilkins, communications and community engagement strategist, felt that social media offers black and Hispanic people a community space where they can connect. “These individuals see a space for themselves on social media that they may not see in their everyday lives,” Wilkins said. “Social media allows minority groups to discuss things among themselves. People feel like they have a community for themselves.” For more information on the Racial Attitudes Survey, contact the Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity at 501-569-8932 or race-ethnicity@ualr.edu. In the upper right photo, community members speak at a panel at the Racial Attitudes Conference April 17 in the Jack Stephens Center. The panelists include, from left to right, Stephen Koch, Miguel Lopez, Kara Wilkins, and Jimmy Cunningham Jr. Photo by Benjamin Krain.��

Grant will support purchase of Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail markers to honor Elaine 12

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 13:49:51 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity received a $4,000 grant from Second Presbyterian Church of Little Rock’s Social Justice Advocacy Committee toward the purchase of markers for the 2019 Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail.�� This year’s event will honor the Elaine 12, a group of black sharecroppers who were convicted of murder and sentenced to death by all-white juries in the wave of quick, unjust criminal prosecutions of black people that followed the Elaine Massacre of 1919. The convictions of six of the Elaine 12 were overturned in the landmark Supreme Court ruling, Moore vs. Dempsey, in 1923. Following their release from prison, most members of the Elaine 12 fled the state and changed their names. Many of them lived the rest of their lives in exile, fearing for their safety, with their family members never knowing what happened to them. The markers will be unveiled at a ceremony in the fall as part of a conference at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Elaine Massacre. The Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail was created by the Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity in 2011 to acknowledge the sacrifices and achievements made by those who fought for racial and ethnic justice in Arkansas. The trail begins in front of the Old State House Convention Center on Markham Street and will eventually extend to the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park. Each honoree’s name is commemorated with a 12-inch bronze marker on the trail and a biography on the trail’s website. New markers are added to the trail each year in a public ceremony that also recognizes civil rights activities of the past and those who work for racial equality today. The ceremonies have honored sit-ins and freedom rides, the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School, the desegregation of downtown Little Rock, the efforts of professionals in the areas of medicine and healthcare, politics and law, and economic advancement, as well as Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller. Last year, the Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail was named a part of the.

Racial Attitudes Conference to focus on race and ethnicity in popular culture

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 15:37:35 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host the 16th annual Racial Attitudes Conference on Wednesday, April 17, to explore attitudes toward race, ethnicity, and popular culture in Little Rock.�� The conference will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the Legends Room in the Jack Stephens Center. This year’s survey covers a wide range of themes related to popular culture including social relationships, social media, television news, media representations of race and ethnicity, music, residence, and sport protests. “The survey reveals the very different ways in which Hispanics, blacks, and whites consume and relate to popular culture, as well as demonstrating some common understandings and similarities,” said Dr. John Kirk, director of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity. “Notably, and strikingly, for example, there seems to be a good understanding of and significant support for the NFL ‘take a knee’ protests across racial and ethnic lines.” In the race, ethnicity, sport, and protest section of the survey, a majority of blacks, Hispanics, and whites believe that the football players’ protests are trying to call attention to racism and unfair police tactics and are not trying to disrespect the military or veterans. A majority of all three groups also think that a professional athlete or team who protests an issue by not standing for the national anthem is demonstrating the freedom the anthem represents. Some of the other results of the survey include:

��Whites are more likely than blacks and Hispanics to describe the place they live in as mostly upper income or mostly middle income.
��Blacks are the most likely to think the place where they live is worse than other places to live.
��Hispanics are the most likely to use social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter while blacks are the least likely.
��Whites are the least likely to see posts about race or race relations on social networking sites while blacks are the most likely.
��A majority of blacks and whites do not think it is ever acceptable for a white or black person to use the n-word.
��Hispanics are more likely to trust television news to report information fairly than whites and blacks.
��A majority of blacks and half of whites say the way blacks are portrayed in television and movies hurts day-to-day public perceptions about racial and ethnic stereotypes, while a majority of Hispanics say it helps or has no effect.

A panel of community leaders will discuss the results of the survey, including:

��Tanisha Joe-Conway, who has spent over 20 years developing, producing, and coordinating public affairs programming for the Arkansas Educational Television Network. ��
��Jimmy Cunningham Jr., a grant writer, voiceover artist, author, community program consultant, and executive director of the Delta Rhythm & Bayous Alliance. Cunningham has been involved in programs focused on the social and cultural development of inner city youth and in research regarding African-American history in the Arkansas and Mississippi Delta area.
��Stephen Koch, an Arkansas Delta native and an award-winning journalist. He is the author of “Louis Jordan: Son of Arkansas, Father of R&B” and writer/host of “Arkansongs,” a weekly radio program examining and celebrating Arkansas music and musicians.
��Miguel Lopez, the Hispanic resource officer for First Community Bank. He serves on the boards of Just Communities of Arkansas, Harmony Health Clinic, Museum of Discovery, and Goodwill of Arkansas Education Initiatives.
��Kara Wilkins, a communications and community engagement strategist, with a background in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. She is the founder and president of K. Wilkins Consulting Group and previously served as the corporate communications specialist at Delta Dental of Arkansas.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information on the Racial Attitudes Survey, contact the Anderson Institute at 501-569-8932 or race-ethnicity@ualr.edu.

Kirk to serve as guest narrator during chorus performance

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 14:09:11 +0000

Dr. John Kirk, director of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity, will serve as a guest narrator during the River City Men’s Chorus performances of” in April.�� The performances, which are free and open to the public, will take place on Sunday, April 7, at 3 p.m., Monday, April 8, at 7 p.m., and Thursday, April 11, at 7 p.m. at Second Presbyterian Church, 600 Pleasant Valley Drive in Little Rock. The songs in the concert focus on the ideals of seeking justice, peace, and the fight for freedom. The concert includes Mark Hayes’ suite based on Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and “Glory” from the 2014 film “Selma.” The chorus will perform a setting of “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor,” the last stanza of Emma Lazarus’ sonnet “The New Colossus,” the lines inscribed on a bronze plaque in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. David Glaze, conductor and artistic director of the River City Men’s Chorus, asked Kirk to serve as a guest narrator after hearing the “ series, , a special feature on ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Public Radio that explores the history of the Civil Rights movement in Arkansas. �� “He thought that they would be the perfect accompaniment to the ‘Imagine: Justice-Freedom-Peace’ performances, which feature many songs inspired by the Civil Rights movement, and also includes a suite of songs based on Maya Angelou’s writings, the author and poet who spent some of her childhood in Arkansas,” Kirk said. “Drawing on my expertise in Arkansas and United States civil rights history, I agreed to put together a number of narrations that I could perform between the songs to tie the songs together and to provide historical context for them.”

Mitchell to shed light on the removal of Little Rock’s westernmost black suburb

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 30 Jan 2019 15:13:19 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor will discuss how slum clearance was used to remove Little Rock’s westernmost black suburb during the next “Plain Talk on Race and Ethnicity” lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 5.�� Dr. Brian Mitchell, assistant professor of history, will present the lecture, “Taking West Rock: The Removal of Little Rock’s Westernmost Black Suburb,” at noon in Otteheimer Library Room 202. Founded in 1906, West Rock provided affordable housing and accessibility to an array of domestic, service, and labor jobs for its African-American residents. The area is nestled in what is now the Riverdale neighborhood, downhill from Pulaski Heights, one of the city’s most affluent communities. West Rock was a short distance from the Rock Island train station, lumberyards, a country club, warehouses, and Field Farm. “West Rock’s community lived symbiotically with their wealthy and industrial neighbors. Proximity made West Rock ideal for its wealthy neighbors uphill. Domestic workers and chauffeurs were a short walk from their places of employment,” Mitchell said. “By the 1950s, the Civil Rights movement caused the Heights’ residents to view the community more as a burden.” Mitchell’s talk examines the lifespan of the community from its development to its removal as a result of the Slum Clearance Referendum of 1950, which allowed the City of Little Rock to accept federal assistance to remove dilapidated urban housing. “The story of West Rock embodies the narrative of race and urban development in America and the role that planning and local government played in maintaining segregated communities,” Mitchell said. The lecture, which is sponsored by the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity, is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Anderson Institute at 501-569-8932 or race-ethnicity@ualr.edu.

Wiebelhaus-Brahm to discuss how truth commissions can promote racial reconciliation in last ‘Plain Talk on Race and Ethnicity’ lecture

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 09 Nov 2018 14:46:35 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor will discuss how truth commissions can promote racial reconciliation in the U.S. during the next “Plain Talk on Race and Ethnicity” lecture on Tuesday, Nov. 27.�� Dr. Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm, associate professor in the School of Public Affairs, will give his lecture, “Will the Truth Set Us Free? Maximizing the Potential of Truth Commissions to Promote Racial Reconciliation in the United States,” at 5 p.m. in the Bailey Alumni Center. “Truth commissions have become a common means through which societies address histories of violence and repression,” Wiebelhaus-Brahm said. “Usually, truth commissions are established during transitions to peace and/or democracy, such as South Africa in the 1990s. Increasingly, though, truth commissions are being established years after transitions. Some have suggested that they could be useful in promoting racial reconciliation in the United States.” This talk will offer a critical perspective on what such a body might contribute in America by comparing truth and reconciliation commissions that have been established in South Africa to address apartheid repression, in Canada and Maine to explore the treatment of indigenous people, and in Greensboro, North Carolina, to investigate an episode of racial violence in the 1970s. As part of his ongoing research, Wiebelhaus-Brahm employs a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate claims about the effects of truth commission processes on such outcomes as democratization, human security, and conflict duration. “Scrutinizing these claims is critically important for setting more realistic policy expectations, particularly among victims and marginalized groups,” he said. The event, which is sponsored by the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity, is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Anderson Institute at 501-569-8932 or race-ethnicity@ualr.edu.

Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity to co-sponsor mayoral debate on race, diversity, and equity

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 13:31:05 +0000

The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity is partnering with the Racial and Cultural Diversity Commission of the City of Little Rock to host a mayoral debate on issues of race, diversity, and equity Thursday, Oct. 11, at Philander Smith College.�� The debate with the five candidates running for mayor of Little Rock will be from 7-8:30 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. in the M.L. Auditorium of Philander Smith. The mayoral candidates include Frank Scott Jr., Warwick Sabin, Baker Kurrus, Vincent Tolliver, and Glen Schwarz. The debate’s moderator will pose questions crafted by the partnering organizations and community members. Questions for the debate can be submitted by email to racialandculturaldiversity@gmail.com. The event is also sponsored by the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, Clinton School of Public Service, Philander Smith College, and the Social Justice Institute.

Quintanar to launch fall “Plain Talk on Race and Ethnicity” lecture series

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 19 Sep 2018 17:13:05 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity will kick off its 2018 lecture series with a talk on how to use objective measures to determine the existence of potential bias in police behaviors.�� Dr. Sarah Quintanar, associate professor of economics and associate faculty member for the Anderson Institute, will give her talk, “Uncovering Data: How Ordinary Police Work Can Provide Insights on Critical Influences and Bias,” at noon Wednesday, Sept. 26, in Ottenheimer Library Room 202. Quintanar will discuss how automated traffic systems can provide a useful baseline in analyses of police behavior. She conducted a case study comparing the population of computer-issued speeding tickets to those issued by police in a southern Louisiana town. The computer-issued tickets represent an objective measure of speeding tickets issued. This number is compared to police-issued tickets to provide evidence of gender and racial bias. This analysis is vital not only to determine the existence of bias, but also to better understand critical influences in a police officer’s decision to ticket a driver who has been speeding. “The original goal of the study is to see if there is disparity by race or gender in the speeding tickets issued,” Quintanar said. “I will broaden that idea and talk about how we can use different data sources in different settings to identify racial and gender disparities. I want the audience to think about other data sources that can be used to answer these questions.” The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Anderson Institute at 501-569-8932 or race-ethnicity@ualr.edu.

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock