Mazrui will explore cultural prejudice as McAndless Scholar

Ali Mazrui doesn't need to look far for an example that supports his assertion that racial prejudice is fading in this country. Barack Obama sits in the oval office, a clear signal that at least some racial divisions are closing.

But, as racial prejudice fades, Mazrui says that cultural prejudice — and, in particular, a prejudice against Islam — stands ready to take its place.

Mazrui

Mazrui, Eastern Michigan University's 2008-09 M. Thelma McAndless Distinguished Scholar, hopes to engage EMU faculty and students in discussion and thought about this shift in human relations when he visits campus March 13-23. The McAndless endowed chair program brings distinguished artists and scholars in the humanities to campus. Event details can be found at http://www.emich.edu/aas/news_events.htm.

Mazrui will present a public lecture, "Africa in Global Racial Context: From Othello to Obama," March 16, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Student Center Auditorium.

"Negrophobia is beginning to be a thing of the past, where Islamaphobia is very much the current form of prejudice," said Mazrui, whose visit to EMU is hosted by EMU's Department of African-American Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. "I will be tracing that all the way back to William Shakespeare and two plays: "Othello," on one hand, and "The Merchant of Venice" on the other. My argument would be that, in Shakespeare's day, to belong to a different religion was more reprehensible than having a different skin color."

Mazrui, director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies and Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities at Binghamton University — State University of New York, is a globally acknowledged scholar in African politics, international political culture, political Islam and the role of language in society.

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