Ford Hall Forums to Address Societal Divisions

The issues and attitudes creating divisions in America form the basis of two presentations this week by the Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University. Both discussions will present ideas for positive change.

News reporters who examined racism in Boston will appear with thinkers who can help foster change on Thursday, April 5. On the following day sociologist and author Arlie Russell Hochschild will discuss “the great paradox” of Tea Party supporters who are against federal spending that would benefit them.

“Boston. Racism. Image. Reality.: Confronting Racism and Disparities: What’s Next?” features members of The Boston Globe Spotlight Team, who will discuss their seven-part series examining the city’s pervasive and persistent national image as a place unwelcoming to black people. Members of the Boston business community will join the conversation to discuss strategies for impactful change. The forum will take place from 12:15 – 2 p.m. Thursday, April 5, in the Sargent Hall fifth-floor commons. Refreshments will be served. Admission is free, but RSVP is recommended.

Hochschild, author of Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, will discuss "Strangers in their own land. Where from here?" from 4 – 5:30 p.m. on Friday, April 6, at the Modern Theatre. She will tell of a five-year journey from the liberal bubble of Berkeley, California, to the highly conservative bubble of Lake Charles, Louisiana, which laid the foundation for ideas expressed in the recent book. Tickets are free of charge.

Her talk precedes a performance of a new musical inspired by the book, one state, two state / red state, blue state, by Suffolk University Theatre Professor Wesley Savick.