Curtis Stokes, political science professor in MSU’s James Madison College, has been writing about black politics and racial inequality for more than a decade.
But if you would have told him two years ago that Barack Obama would be at helm of the United States, he may have laughed.
“He was on our horizon, but there was absolutely no one thinking that somehow he would become the Democratic Party's nominee for president in 2008, much less the 44th president of the United States,” he said.
Stokes chairs Race in 21st Century America, a biennial conference that takes place this year from April 8-10 at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center. This year’s focus is racial inequality in health care.
Although Obama’s election was a milestone, Stokes said racial inequality is far from solved. It’s a slow process, but he believes his work and that of his colleagues is paying off.
“After all,” he said, “a black man was elected president last year.”
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