Civil rights in the West topic of conference

Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2004 | 8:45 a.m.

Historians, legal scholars and activists will descend upon the Boyd School of Law Friday and Saturday to discuss the diverse past and future of civil rights in the West.

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas law school is hosting the two-day conference, "Pursuing Equal Justice in the West," in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the school desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education and the 40th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

But the heart of the conference, planners say, is developing interest in the unique civil rights issues of the West.

"There really is not a repository of civil rights information in the West," Lynne Henderson, Boyd law professor, said. "It's always the North and South.

"The West is very complex," Henderson said. "The West has lots of dimensions of equality and civil rights considering its diverse ethnicity, its history of conquest and migration in the West."

One of the highlights of the conference for Las Vegans will be a roundtable in which several key local leaders will share their memories of Las Vegas' civil rights movements.

Scheduled speakers include former Nevada Gov. Mike O'Callaghan, state Sen. Joe Neal, former Moulin Rouge owner Sarann Knight-Preddy, Operation Life founder Ruby Duncan and the Rev. Donald Clark, former president of the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

District Judge Michael Douglas will moderate the panel, which Henderson said will incorporate video footage and other media presentations.

Other panel discussions during the conference will cover black migration to the West, alien land laws, immigration issues, Indian land disputes, voting rights, black women in the West, gay rights, Indian children's rights and gender issues.

Some of the specific issues that will be addressed include California's policy to give immigrants driver's licenses, the Reno case of a Harrah's bartender fired for refusing to wear makeup and the history of black women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The conference is in Boyd Hall, room 102, on the UNLV campus, and runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday. All of the sessions are free, with no registration required.