Lawrence D. Bobo

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Lawrence D. Bobo
Born	1958 (age 65–66)
Nationality	American
Occupations	Professor scholar
Title	W. E. B. Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences
Academic background
Education	Loyola Marymount University (B.A.) University of Michigan (M.A., Ph.D.)
Academic work
Institutions	Harvard University; Stanford University; UCLA; University of Wisconsin, Madison
Notable students	Patricia Banks (Mt. Holyoke College); Camille Z. Charles (University of Pennsylvania); Cybelle Fox (UC Berkeley); Devon Johnson (George Mason University); Ryan Smith (CUNY, Baruch College); Mia Tuan (University of Washington)

Lawrence D. Bobo is the W. E. B. Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences and the Dean of Social Science at Harvard University. His research focuses on the intersection of social psychology, social inequality, politics, and race.^[1] He is well known for his public statement that Harvard faculty should be sanctioned for public speech critical of Harvard while in his role as Dean.^[2]

Education[edit]

Bobo graduated magna cum laude from Loyola Marymount University with his Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology in 1979. He then received his Master of Arts degree in 1981 and Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1984, both in sociology, from the University of Michigan.^[3]

Early life[edit]

Bobo is the second of three sons born to Joseph R. Bobo, Sr., a graduate of Meharry Medical College and once the chief of minor trauma at USC County Medical Hospital in Los Angeles, California, and Joyce Cooper Bobo, a longtime teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

His mother is the daughter of Ann Nixon Cooper, the 106-year-old Atlanta woman Barack Obama mentioned in his victory speech in Grant Park, Chicago, upon his election as president in 2008.^[4] Bobo wrote of his relationship with her in a blog post for The Root at the time of her death.^[5]

Bobo grew up in the San Fernando Valley, living in Pacoima when young and in Granada Hills in his teenage years, attending public schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District from kindergarten through high school. He attended college at Loyola Marymount University, where he became president of the Speech and Debate Club, once moderating a campus debate between Republican Congressman and LMU alum Robert K. Dornan and famed attorney Gloria Allred.

Personal life[edit]

Bobo is married to Marcyliena H. Morgan, the Founding Director of the Hiphop Archive and Research Institute in the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University.

They live in the Brattle District of Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a home originally designed by Lois Howe in 1898.^[6] Bobo and Morgan remodeled the home, contracting with architect Mary Ann Thompson^[7] and consulting on the kitchen design with chefs Jody Adams and Aaron Sanchez. The remodeled Victorian has received recognition^[8] and awards.^[9] 

Career[edit]

Bobo has held tenured appointments in the sociology departments at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (1989–1991), University of California, Los Angeles (1993–1997), Stanford University (2005–2007), and Harvard University (1997–2004, 2008–present).

He is a founding editor of the Du Bois Review,^[10] published by Cambridge University Press. He is co-author of the book Racial Attitudes in America: Trends and Interpretations and senior editor of Prismatic Metropolis: Inequality in Los Angeles. His most recent book Prejudice in Politics: Group Position, Public Opinion, and the Wisconsin Treaty Rights Dispute was a finalist for the 2007 C. Wright Mills Award.

Bobo is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences^[11] as well as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences^[12] and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a Guggenheim Fellow, an Alphonse M. Fletcher Sr. Fellow, a Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and a Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholar.

Bobo's h-index is currently 53 and Citation count is 26,881.^[13]

As of 2024, he chairs American Institutes for Research's board of directors.

Somewhere Between Jim Crow & Post-Racialism[edit]

Bobo is also known for his article Somewhere Between Jim Crow & Post-Racialism: Reflections on the Racial Divide in America Today, which details the effects "post-racialism" has on the world.

Bobo's article is significant because it details the evolution of racism over time. He argues that when we claim to live in a post-racial world we deny the existence of discrimination. Implications of post-racialism include overlooking newly formed progressive attitudes that have taken the place of prejudice and discrimination.

Bobo shares three perspectives on post-racialism. One is "attached to the waning silence of what some have portrayed as a 'black victimology' narrative. From this perspective, black complaints and grievances about inequality and discrimination are well worn tales".^[14] This perspective is relevant to current politics. An NPR article supports Bobo's claims, discussing the difficulty of passing an African American slavery reparations bill in Congress.^[15]

Bobo's second perspective is the genetic makeup of Americans shifting away from the previous black and white divide. Interracial couples and biracial children have become widely accepted, and the post-racial perspective embraces this. Bobo writes, "Americans increasingly revere mixture and hybridity and are rushing to embrace a decidedly 'beige' view of themselves and what is good for the body politic. Old-fashioned racial dichotomies pale against the surge toward flexible, deracialized, and mixed ethnoracial identities and outlooks".^[14]

Bobo's third perspective on post-racialism is color blindness, moving beyond the barriers of race. He argues we cannot see discrimination if we do not see race. Recognizing that racial groups face discrimination is necessary to progress by taking accountability for past wrongs. Furthermore, African American achievement signaled a shift into post-racialism. Obama symbolizes post-racialism to some analysts, according to Bobo. If a person in a marginalized group reaches such high status, some naively assume that racial discrimination cannot exist.

In addition, Bobo talks about the wealth disparity between white and black families in the United States. According to a Brandeis University study, even the highest-earning African Americans are falling significantly behind whites. Bobo elaborates on the importance of generational wealth and the benefits it has for future generations: "To the extent that wealth bears on the capacity to survive a period of unemployment, to finance college for one's children, or to endure a costly illness or other unexpected large expense, these figures point to an enormous and growing disparity in the life chances of blacks and white in the United States."^[14] Bobo recognizes racial discrimination's social and financial effects on black communities.

Awards and honors[edit]

• Warren J. Mitofsky Award for Excellence in Public Opinion Research, The Roper Center, University of Connecticut (2021)^[16]
• Award for Exceptionally Distinguished Achievement, American Association for Public Opinion Research (2020)^[17]
• Phi Beta Kappa (Alumni Member), Omega Chapter of California, Loyola Marymount University (2020)^[18]
• Outstanding Book Award, American Association for Public Opinion Research (for Prejudice in Politics) (2018)^[19]
• W.E.B. Du Bois Fellow, American Association of Political and Social Science (2017)^[20]
• Charles Horton Cooley-George Herbert Mead Award for a Career of Distinguished Scholarship in Sociological Social Psychology, American Sociological Association (2012)^[21]
• Outstanding Book Award, American Association for Public Opinion Research (for Racial Attitudes in America) (2005)^[22]

Selected bibliography[edit]

Books[edit]

• Bobo, Lawrence D.; Tuan, Mia (2006). Prejudice in Politics: Group Position, Public Opinion, and the Wisconsin Treaty Rights Dispute. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674013292.
• Bobo, Lawrence D. (ed.) (2003). Race, Racism, and Discrimination. Social Psychology Quarterly special issue 66(4).
• Bobo, Lawrence; O'Connor, Alice; Tilly, Chris (eds.) (2001). Urban Inequality: Evidence From Four Cities. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. ISBN 9780871546517.
• Bobo, Lawrence; Oliver, Melvin L.; Johnson, James H.; Valenzuela, Abel (eds.) (2000). Prismatic Metropolis: Inequality in Los Angeles. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. ISBN 9780871541307.
• Bobo, Lawrence D.; Sears, David O.; Sidanius, James (eds.) (2000). Racialized Politics: The Debate about Racism in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226744070.
• Bobo, Lawrence D. (ed.) (1997). Race, Public Opinion and Society. Public Opinion Quarterly special issue 61(1).
• Bobo, Lawrence D.; Krysan, Maria; Schuman, Howard; Steeh, Charlotte (1997). Racial Attitudes in America: Trends and Interpretations. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674745698.

Book chapters[edit]

• Bobo, Lawrence D.; Smith, Ryan A. (1994), "Antipoverty policy, affirmative action and racial attitudes", in Danziger, Sheldon H.; Sandefur, Gary D.; Weinberg, Daniel H. (eds.), Confronting poverty: prescriptions for change, New York Cambridge, Massachusetts: Russell Sage Foundation Harvard University Press, pp. 365–395, ISBN 9780674160811.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Harvard University Scholar Profile
• Harvard University Department of Sociology