John Hope Franklin, world-renowned author and professor emeritus of history, addressed an attentive crowd of freshmen Monday night at Griffith Film Theater in the Bryan Center.

Armed with copies of his landmark book, "From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans," the audience discussed topics including segregation, affirmative action and Franklin's role as chair of the advisory board to the Presidential Task Force on Race Relations.

In preparation for the forum, every freshman at Duke and North Carolina Central University-the two schools at which Franklin has taught-received a copy of "From Slavery to Freedom."

The forum has been planned since last year, and University Librarian David Ferriero said he realized that providing the audience with some background material would increase the effectiveness of the forum. Officials at Perkins Library, he explained, collaborated with McGraw Hill publishers in New York to get a significantly reduced rate on 2,300 copies of the book.

Monday marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of "From Slavery to Freedom," which Franklin said he wrote to inform the public of African American history.

"Without that knowledge we will continue to flounder in understanding the position of African Americans in this country," he said.

The racial and social problems Franklin's book addresses are still being faced today, he said. "We need to know how the concept of 'Negro' as an inferior person began."

To illustrate his point, Franklin related the history of three indentured servants, two white and one black, who ran away from their Virginia home in 1640. They were captured and brought before a magistrate who imposed the penalty of one year's extra service on the two white runaways. He punished the black escapee with a lifetime of service for the same crime.

Franklin said this incident illustrates the roots of racism in America.

"The color line is still with us and probably will be for a while," he said. "But you have to start somewhere and you start by examining the origin of that point of view. You've got to educate these people... open up their minds."

After Franklin introduced his book, moderator, television personality and University alumnus Charlie Rose turned to the audience for questions.

In response to an inquiry regarding the "new racism" among blacks, Franklin said that racism among blacks is a unfortunate reality and mirrors the conflict between blacks and whites. "Light skinned African Americans have no business thinking they are superior to darker skinned African Americans," he said. "If they do, they are just like the whites who think they are superior because of their fair skin."

Franklin stressed repeatedly that education is the way to eliminate racial strife in America. The dearth of money for improvements in public school systems, however, provides excuses for segregation and continued racism.

"It is said that white people run from [black] neighborhoods because they want to give their children a better education," he said. "We must withhold from them that excuse."

Franklin also said that affirmative action in the educational system benefits qualified applicants to colleges and universities across the nation.

"There is no affirmative action system in this country that admits unqualified people simply because they are black," he said. "A person must be qualified... to be considered for admission."

Racism is the most significant problem in the United States, Franklin said, and he hopes that President Bill Clinton will exert his influence to ensure that the task force on race will have a positive effect.

"This is not a painless operation," he said, "but it is a necessary one."

The forum was held partly to involve freshman in racial issues that continuously re-emerge at the University. "These students are new to campus. If we're really serious about these issues, we need to show them that," said University librarian Lois Parker.

When he was first approached about writing the book by publishing company Alfred A. Knopf Inc., Franklin said he told them he was not interested because he was already working on another project, "The Militant South."

"I said 'no thank you-thanks, but no thanks.' I was busy," he said. "I didn't want to be distracted by another commitment."

Knopf Inc. pursued him, however, and following one year of research and 13 months of writing, "From Slavery to Freedom" was published Sept. 22, 1947. The book is now in its seventh edition and has been translated into five languages.

Under pressure recently from the academic community, Franklin reluctantly changed the title of his book. Originally "From Slavery to Freedom: A History of American Negroes," the title was changed for the seventh edition. Franklin said he resisted the new title because changing it would not help the position of blacks.

"I regarded [the title change] as inconsequential and I didn't want to yield to an inconsequential matter," he said. "If I could change [blacks'] condition by changing the title, I'd change it every day."

Following the forum, Vice President for Student Affairs Janet Dickerson encouraged students to become a part of Franklin's legacy.

"Talk to others about what it meant to hear Dr. Franklin," she said. "Talk to your teachers, go back to your high schools.... Resist cynicism. Don't think that because it's a hard problem, it can't be fixed. We are counting on you."