Faculty Members Answer Afro Chairman's Charges

Faculty members of the Economics and English Departments yesterday denied charges by Ewart Guinier '33, chairman of the Afro-American Studies Department, that their departments ignore blacks.

Guinier said in a New York television show Sunday that neither department offers courses relating to black experiences, and criticized their failure to hire black instructors.

James S. Duesenberry, chairman of the Economics Department, said his department has not yet hired a black economics professor because no qualified applicants have been available when the positions were open. He said this was partially due to "the extremely scare number of black Ph.Ds in economics."

Duesenberry cited efforts by the Economics Department to recruit black graduate students, who might later become professors.

Richard S. Musgrave, Burbank Professor of Political Economics, also defended the Economics Department hiring practices, which he said operated on the principle that "everybody's best interest is best served by the same academic standards for all."

Musgrave also challenged Guinier's charge that there are no economics courses dealing with black issues.

"We have courses dealing with urban problems, social mobility, and income distribution," Musgrave said. "These problems involve everybody, white or black."

Members of the English Department also disagreed with Guinier's criticisms.

Robert J. Kiely, professor of English, said the absence of black English professors at Harvard stemmed from "a shortage of interested and qualified Ph.Ds in the field."

Kiely blamed the shortage on "nationwide discrimination which has existed for decades." But, he added, "There is certainly no discrimination in faculty hiring in the English Department."

Kiely pointed out that for the last five years, Roger Rosenblatt, former professor of English here, offered a course called "Black Fiction in America."

Guinier made his criticisms in a televised debate about black studies at Harvard. His opponent was Martin L. Kilson, professor of Government.

Kilson said today that present English and Economics courses at Harvard are relevant to black experiences. "You don't need black professors to have black studies," he said.