Coffee and Conversation: Can we afford to fix the world?

Today’s Coffee and Conversation blog post is exclusive to The Dean’s Blog by Raul Fernandez, Assistant Director of the Howard Thurman Center, who will be moderating this week’s Coffee and Conversation.  Take it away, Raul!


I have this week the unenviable task of filling in for Dean Elmore as the moderator of Coffee of Conversation. Well, as the great philosopher Eminem once said, “you only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow,” so here it goes…

Let’s face it: the United States of America is a nation drowning in debt. Our credit card is maxed and our collectors have us on speed dial. And if we had enough nerve to pick up the phone, we might be surprised by the voice on the other end – our own.

After all, can a nation profess to be the model of equality while disparities based on race and class persist in its educational system, while some citizens are denied the right to be their true selves in its military, and while pay seems to be based as much on ones gender as ones job performance?

And don’t even get me started on the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, much of which looks like Katrina hit it last week!

This week’s question isn’t whether we can financially support efforts to bring democracy, liberty and equality to the world, but rather, do we have the moral currency to make it happen?

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