Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, author and professor of history at Morgan State University, spoke to a crowd of nearly 40 people Thursday night in the Memorial Union concerning the issue of racism and its continuance in society.

“Racism will continue until it’s eliminated as an ideology and as a practice,” she said.

Some members of the audience were taken aback when Terborg-Penn commented on the politics surrounding the Carrie Chapman Catt issue.

“I personally don’t like Chapman Catt but at this point we need to forgive her but not forget,” she said.

Terborg-Penn said people need to use what Catt represented and what happened during her era as a vehicle to move on to broader issues of race and ethnicity.

“I hope the movement doesn’t get stagnated on a name because nothing constructive will result if this is the case,” she said. “The name on the building is one issue. Don’t dwell, it’s done.

“We must forgive her and feel sorry for her. She was a poor misguided woman who didn’t know what she was doing. Move on, you’re fighting a dead person,” she said.

Terborg-Penn said a valuable lesson lies within the controversy surrounding Catt. “Never forget what happened. Be prepared when someone else in a different cloth comes around and tries to recreate what happened in the past.”

Terborg-Penn stressed the importance of understanding politics and using it as a tool to spread awareness and accomplish goals. “We need to understand political agendas of the parties involved. Bring the issues to a forum and get something out of it by making changes.”

Terborg-Penn is a professor of history and coordinator of the graduate programs in history at Morgan State University.

She wrote “The Afro-American Women: Struggles and Images, Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia” and “Women in Africa and the African Diaspora.”

The lecture was sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, African American Studies, the Ames/ISU YWCA, Black Student Alliance, Margaret Sloss Women’s Center, Women’s Studies, Dean of Students, the Committee on Lectures and several other programs and departments at the university.