Dr. Kimberly Moffitt, American Studies, on the Marc Steiner Show

Published: Jul 16, 2013

Following the acquittal of George Zimmerman, Kimberly Moffitt, assistant professor in the Department of American Studies, and other guests discuss what this decision means, specifically with regard to race and the justice system.

“Even in our text we talk about how the black body is revered and reviled, simultaneously – and this is even more poignant when you think about the black male body as being that space where we place upon it something we love,” Moffitt said. “When we think about sports, immediately we think about black men and their athletic ability to perform at sports—and we love that part of that body. But that’s the same body, even in the midst of playing a sport, that we also criminalize, that we villainize, in many ways. And, we haven’t been able to remove the reviling part of that black body to accept people as human beings.”

Listen to the full two-hour special »

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