The nomination of Barack Obama as the Democratic Party’s candidate for President is without doubt a watershed event in American history. But its meaning varies according to one’s viewpoint, life experience and – most especially – where you happen to think America has been and where it is going in terms of its long struggle with race.

This is a pertinent issue for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Our mission seeks to find relevance and application in the modern-day world of the lessons to be learned in the struggle for freedom and the abolition of slavery in pre-Civil War America. Of the many narratives linking that history to the present, one of the most important (and in some ways most controversial) is the lasting impact of slavery in contemporary society. And an essential and so far unanswered component of that discussion is the question of whether we are, as a nation, ever going to be willing to have a serious national conversation on race.

There has always been an undercurrent of race issues in America, as reflected in the legislative and political battles of the Civil Rights era of the 1960s, debates over the merits of affirmative action, or issues related to crime and poverty in America’s urban core. Yet as historian Eric Foner (who will be speaking at the Freedom Center on October 16) points out, a serious national dialogue on race has been too long delayed by a widespread misunderstanding of our historical experience with slavery. “Nowhere is the gap between scholarly inquiry and public perceptions of history (been) more stark,” Foner wrote in 2001 in his seminal work, “Who Owns History.”  To many Americans, the Civil War settled the issue of slavery once and for all, at a blood cost of 630,000 lives.  Yet in actuality, the guarantees of citizenship, individual rights and personal freedom for freed slaves were instead stymied and delayed for a century by the ugly chains of Jim Crow segregation.

The grindingly slow pace of progress to full equality has always been, to many African Americans, a bitter pill to swallow, a perverse parallel universe in which the nation’s boast of freedom for all was denied to millions of its citizens both in the law and in racial antipathy. To a large extent today, discussions of race and race relations most often surface in the news media, the blogosphere and in classrooms around the time of the Martin Luther King, Jr. national holiday in mid-January and Black History Month in February, as if matters were too sensitive or unpleasant to dwell upon for the rest of the year.

As a result, the black perspective on race and justice is nearly invisible except for a few weeks in late winter when, in a concentrated rush of activity, people take note of the fact of our national struggle with racism and redemption.  It’s a well-established fact, for example, that many companies compress their employee diversity consciousness-raising activities during Black History Month. It’s also the time when TV advertising goes out of its way to prominently feature African American actors. For the remainder of the year, race-related issues seem to reside just below the level of public consciousness — off the proverbial “radar screen” — unless something happens, like anonymous placements of nooses in suburban office buildings or college campuses, that create momentary headlines.

Of course, this is a white perspective, one that has been maintained over time and reinforced virtually every day in the national as well as local news media. Yet among African Americans, race is always a matter of deep concern, never more so during times of economic stress, when disparities of income, education and opportunity serve to sharpen both the real and perceived gulf separating blacks and whites in contemporary society.

Senator Obama’s candidacy seems certain to change all that, or at a minimum bring the issue of race squarely on to the radar screen. The risk is that while honest dialogue about race could help bind up lingerwing wounds, it could also exacerbate deeply embedded insecurities.  The additional danger is that race could come to predominate election coverage, delaying serious discussions of what to do about the economy, Iraq and the environment — issues of surpassing importance to all Americans. As his acceptance speech Thursday night indicates, Obama himself is eager to present his case for the Presidency not in terms of race alone, but of shared responsibility and common purpose of all citizens.

As his nomination became official, both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal – two of the three most influential national newspapers (along with the Washington Post) – carried articles in which issues related to race relations, from an historical and contemporary perspective, form a backdrop to the Obama candidacy. The Associated Press tackled the issue of race directly, summarizing what is likely to be an often repeated question by the media: is America willing to elect an African American President?  More such stories are bound to appear.

Another indication of this sharpening focus came in Senator Hillary Clinton references the Underground Railroad to the Denver convention, in which she inserted a reference to the Underground Railroad and a quote (apparently apocryphal) attributed to one of that period’s best-known icons, Harriett Tubman, as an inspiration to Democrats to continue the fight for freedom. Click on the image below to listen to the excerpt.

What direction the new national dialogue on race takes remains to be seen. From now until November, it will be present throughout the Presidential campaign, whether explicitly taken up by the candidates in public debate or as an influence in the strategies and tactical decisions of the competing Obama and McCain campaigns. One thing is certain: if the discussion of race moves from the front page of the newspaper and begins to engage families at the kitchen table of households across the country, then undoubtedly the Obama candidacy will have already exerted a positive, badly overdue influence on how Americans of different races and ethnicities see and understand one another.

New federal education funding legislation contains good news for institutions, like the Freedom Center, that provide educational and cultural programming on Underground Railroad history and related topics.

The legislation, H.R. 4137, the “Higher Education Opportunity Act,” was passed by Congress and signed into law this week by President Bush. It covers a huge array of federal education programs, including renewed funding of up to $3,000,000 annually (for the next five years) under the National Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural Program first enacted in 1998. Funding will be awarded annually to applying institutions through a competitive grant process.

Importantly, the new law expands both what can be funded and the potential audiences for programs:

• For the first time, federal dollars can be used to underwrite educational programs that focus on lessons derived from the history of the Underground Railroad. In other words, programming that is relevant to modern-day issues, albeit those that link programmatically to Underground Railroad themes, could be eligible for support through the new legislation.

• Funding opportunities have been expanded to cover education programs for students from kindergarten through college, as well as the general public. Previously, Underground Railroad funding was largely limited to college programs.

As in prior years, organizations seeking funding must demonstrate that they have matching commitments of private or non-federal underwriting equal to four times as much as the receive from the government. Thus, for an organization to obtain a $1,000,000 grant under the new legislation, it must show that it has $4,000,000 in private funding already committed.

Two elderly Chinese women in Beijing, ages 79 and 77, have been sentenced to a year of labor and “re-education” for attempting to get a permit to protest what they claimed was inadequate compensation for their homes that were demolished to make way for the Olympics.

It’s the kind of story that will quickly be buried beneath the avalanche of feel good news about Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and the USA basketball team. Yet it stands as a harrowing reminder that individual freedoms and human rights for China’s 1.3 billion citizens are by no means safeguarded.

With the world’s attention focused on China and the Beijing Games, people are learning — and seeing for themselves on wall-to-wall television coverage a rapidly growing, market-driven (and sports-crazy) economic juggernaut, but also the globe’s largest and nearly last remaining Communist-controlled government. Its leaders eagerly attempt to project a progressive, ultra-modern image (reflected in the astonishing architecture of many of the Olympic venues), while simultaneously maintaining strict and pervasive control over virtually every aspect of the lives of its citizens.

The famous image of the student blocking a Russian Army tank on a Beijing boulevard in 1989 remains perhaps the picture that most people in the world envision about China. And no wonder. From its repressive policies towards Tibet and religious minorities within its borders to its laissez faire handling of the genocidal regime in the Sudan, China has earned a worldwide reputation as a nation that cares little about fundamental human rights or personal liberties. The shocking revelations earlier this year that thousands of young Chinese were held as work slaves in remote manufacturing plants was, for many, only additional proof that this is a nation where the rights of the individual have no relevance or meaning.

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With less than 100 days to go before the November election, presumptive Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain are gearing up for their party’s nominating conventions and the final post-Labor Day campaign push.

We’ve been examining both men’s positions on human trafficking and have found — not altogether surprisingly — that neither of the candidates or their campaigns are focusing much time or attention on trafficking-related issues. That doesn’t mean, however, that Senators McCain and Obama are ignoring the issue. On the contrary, both men do have a record of public comments and positions that address (sometimes directly, sometimes obliquely) human trafficking and contemporary slavery. It’s just that in an election in which economic, environmental and foreign policy issues will continue to dominate the political dialog, human trafficking is not likely to become a “hot button” issue.

A closer look at their campaigns reveals that of the two, John McCain has been the most specific in mentioning trafficking as an issue of concern. His overall position was outlined in a speech in May. In it, McCain discussed his “vision for protecting human freedom and dignity,” which contains several elements, among them the creation of a governmental Inter-agency Task Force to better coordinate government policy on human trafficking. The speech did not explain how this proposal differs from an inter-agency task force authorized in the 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act and later manifested in the creation, in 2003, of a senior working level group called the Senior Policy Operating Group (SPOG), which meets quarterly.

McCain also has advocated increased disclosure requirements for web-based companies to enable law enforcement to better track down child porn, human trafficking and illegal sex businesses that often solicit customers — and victims — online.

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Ohio State Senator Theresa Fedor (D-Toledo), along with Senator David Goodman (R-Columbus) and Representative Kathleen Chandler (D-Kent), has and continues to play a crucial role in addressing human trafficking in Ohio. All three leaders have introduced legislation in Columbus to combat human trafficking and raise public awareness of its presence in Ohio.

Recently, Senator Fedor agreed to blog about her personal view of the situation in the State. Her comments serve as a reminder that trafficking in human beings is not just a problem in faraway Indonesia or eastern Europe, but also right here in the Midwest. Here’s her post:

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An enduring but little noticed facet of the process of federal lawmaking is the way in which U.S. government agencies often engage in promoting — or opposing — legislative proposals. It’s one of those gray areas of government (and the Constitution) in which the traditional separation of powers among the legislative, executive and judicial branches is blurred, if not ignored, as federal bureaucrats whose job is it to implement and uphold laws enacted by Congress instead engage in behind-the-scenes efforts to either kill proposals they don’t like, or advocate enactment of legislation they favor.

This dynamic appears to be operating full throttle in Washington as the Senate takes up a House-passed measure to strengthen the nation’s anti-slavery law, the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000. Not only did the House approve the new bill, it did so overwhelmingly by a margin of 405 for to only 2 against. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better example of clear legislative intent.

Yet the Department of Justice is opposing the bill in the Senate, apparently hoping to either kill it outright or persuade Senators to back another, weaker proposal.

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Here at the Freedom Center, we often talk about impediments to freedom in the modern world. We call them the “unfreedoms,” and they are six in number:

• Hunger
• Illiteracy
• Contemporary forms of slavery
• Racism
• Tyranny
• Genocide

That last unfreedom, genocide, is the subject of a very thoughtful column by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. He raises the issue of whether world leaders (who obviously confront dozens of persistent, often intractable problems) have pushed genocide down the list of global priorities.

What is genocide? The term came into general use in 1944, in the midst of World War II and the Holocaust. It means the systematic murder of an entire political, cultural, or religious group, usually sponsored or encouraged by a government entity.

Kristof, the Times columnist, is perhaps the leading journalistic voice decrying what he describes as genocide in the Darfur region of Africa, where thousands of Darfurian men, women and children — virtually all of them Muslims — have been brutalized, tortured and annihilated in an ongoing conflagration with no apparent end in sight. Yet, Kristof writes, with so many other crushing issues to deal with, like poverty, AIDS, and looming ecological disaster, most of the world not only is paying little attention to Darfur, but has shown no particular desire to stop what is happening.

We would welcome your reactions to Kristof’s column. With so many other things to worry about, is it acceptable to push Darfur off the world’s radar screen?

Channel 9 in Cincinnati reported this week (watch the video) about a King’s Island Amusement Park staffing agreement with Worldwide International Student Exchange (WISE).  WISE promises kids around the world a trip to America, a job, and nice living quarters. For this WISE collects $3000 from the kids.

But when they arrived in Ohio, according to the Channel 9 report, they found the living conditions unacceptable, transportation unavailable, and recourse unattainable; If they spoke up, they risked losing their visa and possible deportation.

Without proper safeguards, the current guest worker/visa program could be abused and, for the young people coming to America, a form of indentured servitude. What do you think?  Have you met or interacted with kids at Kings Island or other public venues?  What obligation to the kids does the hiring organization have?  Could this kind of hiring program lead to situations in which young people, far from home and unable to speak English effectively, are being forced to work in order to pay back the cost of coming to America?

Let’s hear from you.

Human trafficking in the United States is receiving more national attention from federal prosecutors, local law enforcement agencies, social service workers and the general public. As many as 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States each year, according to government data. Yet skeptics continue to challenge the extent of trafficking, arguing that the actual number of reported incidents reflects a relatively minor problem. Judges and law enforcement officials, especially at the local level, are often among the doubters. Many still perceive human trafficking as an international issue that is rare or nonexistent in their communities.

Which raises an interesting question: if more police officers and judges were trained in understanding the many ways in which human trafficking plays out, what would the result be? Would cities and towns finally begin to realize that trafficking in human beings is a real – and growing – menace everywhere?

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The Wall Street Journal editorial page is one of the few mainstream news media publications to comment on the recent State Department 2008 Trafficking In Humans Report. We were especially drawn to the Journal’s summary statement of contemporary slavery:

"(M)odern-day slavery remains a scourge. The more light that can be shed on it the better chance of wiping it out."

Our sentiments exactly.

Read the entire Journal editoria l and post a comment about what you think.

There’s an interesting post over at Matador Volunteer with some interesting facts about modern human trafficking:

2008 witnesses the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade in America. Amidst the celebrations, what many people fail to realize is that slavery persists today in the modern world on an enormous scale.

In spite of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN in 1948 stating that “slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms,” the figures accompanying the modern slave trade seem inconceivable in a global society that prides itself upon its modern-day values and emphasis on human rights.

1. There are more people in slavery now than at any other time in human history.
2. The value of slaves has decreased.
3. Slavery still exists in the US.
4. Slavery is hidden behind many other names, thus disguising it from society.
5. The least known method of slavery is the most widely used.

Continue reading 10 Shocking Facts About Global Slavery in 2008

The Freedom Center’s "Invisible: Slavery Today " exhibit will be displayed in the lobby of the headquarters of Dayton-based LexisNexis during the week of June 2-6. LexisNexis is leading provider of information and business solutions to professionals in a variety of industries–legal, risk management, corporate, government, law enforcement, accounting and academic.

In addition, there will be a panel discussion of human trafficking following the screening of a new movie on modern forms of slavery, entitled "Holly ," on June 6 at 8 p.m. at the Neon Theater in Dayton.

Holly also will be shown in Columbus on June 9. Check out the producer’s website for more information about dates and times for the screening of the new movie on modern slavery .