Political leadership in an increasingly diverse America topic for Wednesday (Lunch) box talk

A strong need for courageous leadership at a time of profound racial and ethnic changes in America is the topic for the next installment of the “Thinking Out of the (Lunch) Box” series on April 2. Professor of Philosophy David Wood will lead the discussion, titled “Courage and Democratic Pluralism,” with Lucius Outlaw Jr., director of the African-American Studies Program and professor of philosophy.

Outlaw will recount the failures of leadership and lack of courage during the 1790s, a time when America’s new leaders were trying to establish a republican democracy out of a diversity of peoples and races. He will discuss how the demographic concerns of white leaders at that time eventually led to a nation torn apart by civil war. Outlaw maintains that as the United States undergoes the most significant demographic changes in its history, there is an urgent need now for better and more courageous leadership.

The conversation and box lunch, presented by the University and the Nashville Public Library, take place at the Main Library on Church Street. Lunch is catered by Provence Breads and Café. Reservations are required. All those planning to attend this event, which is free and open to the public, should call 322-8585 or e-mail lunchbox@vanderbilt.edu.

Posted 4/01/03 at 10 a.m.