Malice Aforethought:
The Sweet Trials
Between 1915 and 1925, the African American population in Detroit increased from 7,000 to 82,000. A severe housing shortage soon followed, and Dr. Ossian Sweet, a successful African American physician, bought a middle-class home in an all-white neighborhood. When his home and family were threatened by a white mob, shots were fired that resulted in the death of a white man. The NAACP and the ACLU initiated their first legal defense funds to defend Dr. Sweet and his family. Dr. Sweet's nephew, who admitted firing a gun in defense of their home and family, was acquitted by an all-white jury. Excerpts from the closing arguments made by Clarence Darrow at the two trials of the Sweet family in Detroit in the 1920s will be read by the playwright of Malice Aforethought, a play based closely on the trials.
In Search of Truths about Hurricane Katrina:
Lived Experiences and Media Portrayals
Natural disasters are believed to undermine social support resources and unleash a fury of losses, such as property, lives, and culture; therefore, the current research session focuses on the influence of Hurricane Katrina on human development. The questions considered in this session are as follows: (a) In what ways were some families privileged over others?; (b) How did racial and aging intolerance permeate the lived experiences of families directly or indirectly impacted by Hurricane Katrina?; (c) How do family scholars impede or facilitate social injustices, using Katrina as the backdrop? To engage conference participants, the discussant for the session will deconstruct the truths that emerge from media broadcasts against those that emerged from social science research. Policy and program recommendations will be offered by the discussant.
