Canceled: Jeff Smith explores ‘Ferguson in Black and White’ March 23

Note: Jeff Smith’s talk has been canceled due to a weather-related travel delay. There are currently no plans to reschedule his presentation.
Jeff Smith, an urban policy professor and former Missouri state senator, will discuss “Ferguson in Black and White” at 7 p.m. Monday, March 23, in Anheuser-Busch Hall’s Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom at Washington University in St. Louis.

Free and open to the public, the talk is based on Smith’s book of the same name, which was released as a Kindle Single in November 2014.

(Credit: Smith)

Smith is an assistant professor at The New School’s Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy in New York City, where he teaches and researches urban political economy, election campaigns, legislative strategy and incarceration.

He received master’s and doctoral degrees in political science from Washington University and was teaching here as an adjunct in 2006 when elected as a Missouri state senator representing south St. Louis. He later pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice charges related to 2004 congressional campaign violations.

Smith’s book examines what it is about St. Louis’ history, economics, politics, leadership structure and culture that sets it apart from the myriad other cities and towns that quietly endured similar tragedies.

In his talk, Smith will explore the roots of Ferguson’s rage – and offer insights on how other cities can address their own simmering issues of racial and class inequality. He explored similar issues in an August 2014 commentary in The New York Times.

The Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy, and the

the Center for the Humanities, both in Arts & Sciences, are co-sponsoring the event.

Online registration is requested, but not required. Those who register will be sent directions and parking instructions on March 23.