Richard Ford’s parents grew up in the Jim Crow South.

“In many ways they saw the worst of American race relations: formal segregation by force of law, and the lack of opportunity and widespread contempt that went along with that,” said Ford, a Stanford Law School professor who writes and teaches about social justice and urban life.

Ford was the keynote speaker at Ripon College last week to conclude its series of MLK Week activities.

“So they were no Pollyannas about American race relations,” Ford said, telling the 30 attendees that his parents assumed his children wouldn’t have to deal with legally sanctioned segregation.