Najam Interviewed on Racism and Protests in the U.S.

Adil Najam, Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was interviewed on May 31, 2020, by Voice of America (VOA) Urdu on the history of racism in the United States and the string of incidents that have lead to recent nationwide protests. 

Najam described systemic racism as “a continuing wound on America’s soul.” He went on to say that, while progress has been made over the decades, especially including in society’s growing refusal to ignore repeated incidents of injustice, the progress has been painfully, and sometimes brutally, slow. Najam remarked that this has been a long and enduring struggle in the United States and there is still a long way to go.

Asked to comment on how such incidents are viewed by audiences abroad, Najam said that they clearly have a negative impact on America’s international image and undermine the moral authority for the U.S. to be a credible voice of justice and human rights internationally.

The full interview can be viewed below.

Adil Najam is the Inaugural Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University and was the former Vice Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). Currently he is hosting a video expert interview series called #WorldAfterCorona for the Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. Read more about him here.

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