Forum looks at African American Studies

Graduate students and faculty from universities across the nation attended a conference this weekend to debate and examine "the politics of respectability in African American studies." Sponsored by the Fontaine Society -- a group established in 1970 in honor of former Philosophy Professor William Fontaine, the first African American to become a full professor at the University -- The "Black Image" in the "Black Mind" conference featured the presentation and discussion of dissertations related to the theme of respectability. Kali Gross, a third-year History graduate student and conference coordinator, noted in her opening speech that she "wasn't sure if African American studies was ready to come under criticism." English Professor Farah Griffin gave the keynote address Saturday morning, using her work on jazz singer Billie Holiday to introduce the conference's theme and offer her personal analysis of the politics of respectability. "[Holiday] exploded beyond the limits of all categories," Griffin explained as she defined the "sensual bisexual" singer's life as an "explicit bid for more respectability." Griffin's biography of Holiday -- which she completed while on leave from the University -- led the way into panel discussions featuring scholars from the universities of Buffalo, Iowa and California, among others. In presenting their arguments, the scholars touched on subjects as diverse as "literary resistance and insistence" and "verbal rights and the trappings of academic hegemony." Gross discussed her dissertation -- entitled, "Rude Gals, Violent Offenders and the Image of the 19th Century African American Female Criminal in Philadelphia" -- during a forum focusing on "Roughneck women: developing new frameworks for African American history." Leslie Patrick, a History professor at Bucknell University, moderated the event. "We have to remember that in the history of the African American tradition we have existed on this continuum from oppression to achievement, with no room for any discussion of anything else in between," Patrick said. At the closing address Sunday night, Law Professor Regina Austin spoke on respectability as well as on the success of the weekend's intellectual endeavors. "Buying into respectability generally requires that the purchaser accept the hyperdemonization of blacks," Austin said in reference to the racial stereotypes expressed in mainstream academia. In congratulating the panelists -- whose research added to the examination of respectability as a "resistance to negative stigmas" -- Austin said that these kinds of conferences make "you begin to understand the significance of what you're doing and it makes you want to do it that much more."

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