On Friday, October 15 at 4:10 p.m. in the Wyoming Union Yellowstone Ballroom, UW professor Dr. Tracey Owens Patton will give the fall semester President’s Speaker Series talk.
The President’s Speaker Series acclaims faculty members who have made exceptional contributions to the university and have shown substantial diligence in their work. Candidates are nominated by former honorees.
Dr. Owens Patton, who is a professor in the Department of Communications and Journalism and an adjunct faculty member in African American and Diaspora Studies in the School of Culture, Gender and Social Justice, will present “The Transnationalism of Jim Crow: Institutionalizing Anti-Blackness in Germany During and After WWII.”
Owens Patton said that parts of the speech are based off her in-progress book that is part of a research project she has been working on for the last decade.
“I think this topic is important for any community to be aware of and to learn the history, to have a more in-depth understanding so that we don’t repeat some of the mistakes of the past,” Owens Patton said.
The speech will begin with a brief history of Black presence in Europe, including the Crusades, the Imperial Era, WWI and WWII. Owens Patton will also present research on the assumption that WWII caused a shift in racial issues, specifically in the United States.
“Part of what I’ll talk about is the legacy of Jim Crow. When we, the United States, went into WWII, we went in with Jim Crow in place. When WWII ends, Black American soldiers come back with Jim Crow still in place,” Owens Patton said. “
“The end of a major war doesn’t mean that suddenly all social issues are dealt with and are no longer a negative issue or an issue in any society.”
Owens Patton will also include stories of people she interviewed throughout her discussion on historical lineage.
“I’m a professor who loves to focus on voices that we don’t often hear, voices that are erased or marginalized,” Owens Patton said. “What we often lack are the individual personal stories that make our understanding of a major event like a world war that much more impactful, something that resonates more with us.”
Owens Patton said that the takeaway she hopes her audience gains from her speech is the understanding of how complex history is.
“You can still discover new stories and new information from the past that can have ripple effects in the present and potentially in the future,” Owens Patton said.
“One of my greatest joys in working on this research project for the last decade has been meeting the people I have. They’ve been gracious enough to open their doors and answer all the questions I have and explain, at times, where the history books got it wrong.”
In terms of raising awareness on discrimination of all kinds in all cultures, Owens Patton said that dialogue is the beginning of addressing these issues.
“I’m a communication professor. I believe in the art of dialogue. I believe that having conversations with people who might be different from you in a wide variety of areas is important for us to gain better knowledge and understanding of one another,” Owens Patton said.
“It’s so important since there’s so many different divides and separations that we’re dealing with today in society. Communication, for me, is always the key.”
Owens Patton also received the Sandeen Lecture in the Humanities, making UW history for receiving the two highest speaking awards, and will be giving a speech focused on women and children during war on December 13.
