Darby Chastain
Wilder Symposium
I chose to attend the last session of the day from 2pm until 4:30pm. I focused my attention
towards on former Governor Wilder because he always gives the most interesting lectures.
Hearing about the experiences he has is quite amazing. He is so wise because of all of the
hardships he has experienced throughout his career. Criminal procedure has come a long
way since the Kerner Commission Report because of the inclusion of all races into
criminal procedure. Wilder talked about the creation of the first black caucus and how he
couldn’t believe that all of those people came out just to hear him speak about the political
issues. He mentioned that in the first meeting he arrived and could not even get into the
doors because it was so full of people waiting for him to speak. The presidential election
was discussed towards the end of the talk and it had a lot of people interested in his
opinions. He did not say which candidate he supported, but he did mention some feelings
against Donald Trump. This election is so important for minorities and women because of
the two political candidates running. Wilder spoke on how he thought that the policies that
are introduced in Washington are important, but the policies in our own local governments
are more important because of how close we are to them. This event was very informative