FLORYNCE KENNEDY

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Nicholas Lemann's coverage of Black lawyer Florynce Kennedy's speech in the Wednesday, March 14 Crimson is exactly the kind of reporting which, rightly, has the Black community leveling charges of racism at your paper.

Evidently, Lemann was present only for the end of Kennedy's speech. Her topic, "The Pathology of Oppression," was mentioned nowhere in the story, nor was her theme: that Harvard contributors so much to the oppression of various peoples that students should be willing to strike even if the issues involved don't directly affect them.

Ms. Kennedy also explained her personal involvement in the Feminist party, and advocated that Black women stay out of the party, as the unity of Black people is a more important priority. She did not blast the Afro-Am and Women's Studies, as Lemann implied, but criticized Harvard's treatment of these areas of study as "outrageous" and "disgraceful."

We do not know whether your reporter went out of his way to ignore the exchanges which took place during the speech or whether he slept through it all. Ms. Kennedy and Prof. Kilson did have a brief exchange concerning Kilson's role here. Kennedy suggested that Black students utilize Kilson and "stick by him when he has problems" because he has the resources to help Black students survive here. Considering the prevailing view Black students have of Kilson, we feel that this was a newsworthy comment. Lemann, of course, did not.

Kilson's comment at the end of the speech story was totally unnecessary. He was present only as an observer. Prof. Ruth Hubbard (Biology) was also present at the speech, but evidently Lemann decided a woman's view was not important. Then too, her comment wouldn't have added to the purpose of his story, to make an intelligent, outspoken Black women look totally foolish, ignorant, and "niggerish" to Crimson readers.

We find the Crimson's coverage of Ms. Kennedy's speech both outrageous and disgraceful, and we must certainly agree with her that Crimson news reporting leads to the conclusion that the paper is "a racist, sexist, elitist, noble-nigger paper." (A noble-nigger is someone who refuses to back off from a position, even when they're wrong.) Monique Belton '75  Rosalyn Kelson '76   Linda C. Buck '75  Mark Lomax '75   A' Lelia Bundles '74  Cheryl McQueen '74   Denise E. Conley '75  Rita Nethersole '74   June V. Cross '75  Paula Pinkston '74   Avarita L. Hanson '75  Debi Tanner '75   M. Keith Horton '76  Erin Walker '75