The Candor

Issue date: 11/17/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Leah Kirchhoff Singh brought on very good arguments about democracy during his lecture on campus.

On Thursday, Nov. 12, there was a very informative speech on an issue that is brought up today as it was a hundreds of years ago. Nikhi Pal Singh, a 1995 graduate from Yale University, had the full attention of a packed auditorium with his lecture on "Race and Democracy" all around the world in the 20th century.

He detailed his theories on how the struggles against racial democracy thru-out 20th century have transferred and continued into this 21st century. He demonstrated that there are still needs and demands required before racial democracy is achieved. He had great examples of racial struggles during the Nazi regimes before World War One and in Vietnam before the Vietnam War. These wars were all thought and fought to be the "war to end all wars". These were the wars which were going to "make the world safe for democracy."

Singh explains that there is a color line still wrapped around the world and stated, "Pop culture says for us not to see race, yet race is all around us."

So what is Race War? Singh's defines Race War as the containing and quarantining of different races and population to certain, restricted areas. Is this "Race War" continuing today? Are there really deep historic problems that still boil up the black vs. white issue?

Singh argues that democracy is a process that is constantly being questioned and challenged in the ongoing fight for justice in the United States and around the world. The battle for democracy will never end because we will always have differences. The challenge is not let the differences take away from the big picture - democracy for all.

Singh lecture moved the audience and when asked what he thought of lecturing to students from all different races here at Benedictine University, Singh replied, "This audience is very diverse, it's exciting to lecture!"

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