This Will Hurt Me More Than It Hurts You: Corporal Punishment and Jim Crow in America

FORT WAYNE, Ind.— “This Will Hurt Me More Than It Hurts You: Corporal Punishment and Jim Crow in America” is the title of the Native Tongue Lecture Series’ next event, Thursday, October 13, at 7 p.m. in Neff Hall, Room 101. Richard B. Pierce II, a graduate of Concordia Lutheran High School in Fort Wayne, is the speaker.

Pierce is currently the John Cardinal O’Hara, CSC, Associate Professor of History and Chair of the Department of Africana Studies at the University of Notre Dame. The presentation features his research into how African American families and institutions taught Jim Crow to their children in the United States from 1895 to 1965, especially the connections between corporal punishment and Jim Crow.

Pierce specializes in African American, urban, and civil rights history, examining social and political protest in urban environments. He was a consultant for the “Faith and Community Initiative” of the Project on Religion and Urban Culture” at POLIS Research Center and For Gold and Glory, an award-winning documentary that depicted the African American automobile racing league of the 1920s. His published articles and essays have appeared in the Journal of Urban History, The State of Indiana History 2000, and the Chicago Tribune. Recently, his essay “In Pursuit of Civil Discourse in the Academy” was featured in Diverse Magazine, formerly known as Black Issues in Higher Education. He also published Polite Protest: The Political Economy of Race in Indianapolis, 1920–1970 (2005).

Richard B. Pierce II, John Cardinal O'Hara, CSC, Associate Professor of History and chair of the Department of Africana Studies, University of Notre Dame.

The Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) College of Arts and Sciences, Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, and the Diversity Council host the Native Tongue Lecture Series. It is free and open to the public. IPFW Native Tongue is a lecture series about race and race relations composed entirely of Fort Wayne natives that showcases some of the intellectual talent Fort Wayne has produced. It is designed to engage the IPFW community around matters of race, while showing students another pathway to professional success. One lecture is featured each semester as part of the series. Each speaker also has the opportunity to engage with IPFW and local high school students. For more information, contact Quinton Dixie, associate professor of religious studies, at 260-481-5724 or dixieq@ipfw.edu. ####