Acclaimed scholar Richard T. Hughes will speak on “Understanding White Supremacy: Why We Must Hear Black Voices” on June 11 as part of the Central Arkansas Library System’s Rabbi Ira E. Sanders Lecture Series, presented in partnership with UA Little Rock’s Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity.

The lecture will begin at noon on Tuesday, June 11, at the Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Ave. After the lecture, Hughes will sign copies of his book Myths America Lives By: White Supremacy and the Stories That Give Us Meaning.

According to Hughes, six myths lie at the heart of the American experience. Taken as aspirational, four of those myths remind us of our noblest ideals, challenging us to realize our nation’s promise while galvanizing the sense of hope and unity we need to reach our goals. Misused, these myths allow for illusions of innocence that fly in the face of the primal American myth that stands at the heart of all the others—the myth of white supremacy.

Hughes is a professor emeritus at both Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, and Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. He has written, co-authored and edited more than a dozen books including Illusions of Innocence: Protestant Primitivism in America, 1630-1875 and Christian America and the Kingdom of God.

“The notion of white supremacy puzzles some people and offends others,” said Joel Anderson, chancellor emeritus. “In a time when divisions in the nation have increased, we need more than ever to have informed discussion of large issues that divide us, issues of race heading the list. Few scholars can address white supremacyt with the authority of Professor Richard Hughes. His lecture is a rare opportunity to learn from an outstanding scholar who has researched this controversial subject extensively.”

The Sanders Lecture was established in 2000 to commemorate Rabbi Sanders’s 40 years of service on the Boards of Trustees of Little Rock Public Library and the Central Arkansas Library System. The lecture includes topics that support Sanders’s commitment to intellectual freedom.

The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. Online reservations are available through the Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity.

For more information, call 918-3000.