Livingston lecture drawn from Dubois

The ongoing challenge of racial division at the end of the 20th century was the topic of this year's John C. Livingston Annual Faculty Lecture presented last Thursday at the University Theater.

Otis L. Scott, chair of the ethnic studies department, was the recipient of the 1998-99 honor which is given each year to a distinguished CSUS faculty member. The winner then presents a public lecture or performance.

The Livingston award is the most prestigious honor a CSUS faculty member can receive, said Thomas Krabacher, chair of the Faculty Senate.

"The United States of America remains challenged by itself," Scott said. It's time to confront the unfinished business of cultural practices that for centuries have penalized groups and individuals due to the color of their skin, he said.

Scott's lecture, "DuBoisian Insight: Problematics of the Color Line Then and Now," drew from the life of Pan-African scholar William DuBois.

Scott described DuBois as an icon and major intellectual force for African-American people, as well as other races because he dedicated his life to challenging social institutions and processes.

"How easy it would have been for him to seek a life of wealth, comfort and ease. He could have retreated from the din of social justice struggles," he said.

Despite the advances made in the during the reconstruction era in the late 1890s and the Civil Rights Movement of the '60s, there is still a long way to go.

"Unfinished business is business delayed and business delayed is repeatedly revisited," Scott said of America's denial about the issue of the color line.

There are those who would deny the existence of color division based on the success of such contemporaries as Michael Jordan, Denzel Washington and Toni Braxton, in order to prove the separation no longer exists.

"The success of these individuals is too often, in my opinion, incorrectly read as prima facie evidence," he said.

They have been successful in spite of the color line, not because it no longer exists, Scott said.

Two years before DuBois' death, he joined the Communist party believing the United States was "incapable of achieving racial justice."

Scott remains optimistic, although DuBois had his doubts.

"I am convinced we as human beings can shape our destiny with visions and hard work ... We can choose to drag the color lines with us; we can also choose not to. We can choose a different path."

Our society continues to be at odds with itself over the color line, but there are lessons to be learned from roads traveled before us, he said.

"Our past stalks us like a long shadow."

Everyone wants a place where their native genius can be nurtured, released and appreciated, Scott said.

"Lines that define and separate can be reconfigured to lines which connect ... we can do this if we have the courage."

Scott, who received his BA and MA in government at CSUS and has taught here for 24 years, said he had benefited from the teachings of Livingston during his early years.

"He made us think about subjects which most of us would not care to think about," Scott said. "He was simply, simply a decent and caring human being."

There was an emotional moment at the beginning of Scott's lecture as he expressed his appreciation of the award.

"This is an honor for which I am most grateful and frankly humbled. This award means much to me," he said before his voice quavered and he paused for a moment before apologizing to the audience that filled the theater.

CSUS President Donald Gerth introduced Scott by saying, "Otis is a member of this faculty who has never been unwilling to take part in the public dialogue, whether it's on this campus or in the greater community."

In attendance were Scott's wife, his brother, his youngest son David, past recipients of the Livingston award, CSUS faculty, staff and students.

The lecture ended with a standing ovation from the audience followed by a reception in the Del Rio Suite in the Riverfront Center.