LAUGHING THROUGH TEARS

To the Editors of The Crimson:

It is amusing and rather sad to read in the May 15 th Crimson that Professor Martin Kilson, the constant public critic of blacks at Harvard, particularly those who attribute any aspect of their difficulties here to racism, should himself charge racial discrimination as the real reason the Bulletin delayed publication of his latest broadside attack on black students.

Kilson's distress at the delayed publication was in no way lessened by either the Bulletin's concern about factual errors in his piece, or its editors' wish to honor the black students' request to answer the serious charges he leveled at their intellectual ability, mental stability and basic integrity. This is significant, for Kilson has justified his attacks on blacks by the desire to stimulate debate on a serious issue. Evidently, he prefers that discussion be non-adversarial, thus facilitating his practice of altering the facts to fit his arguments. It is a phenomenon that, regrettably, is far from unknown among some Harvard faculty who appear quite willing to build their reputations on anti-black writings, scantily clad in scholarly garb. Perhaps blacks should be pleased that at least one black is participating in the benefits of this personally profitable, if academically questionable, enterprise.

We are not. For a long time, black students and faculty have tried to ignore Kilson's vicious slanders We recognized that the effort to survive in a racist society damages all of us and there seemed little to be gained by public wrangling with one of our brothers who is so obviously in worse shape than most But such fraternal tolerance must give way when it becomes clear that our silence may be considered as concession by the Harvard community, particularly those in policy-making positions.

The Bulletin should be commended on their decision to delay publication of Kilson's article in the name of accuracy and fairness. Hopefully, other Harvard publications will follow suit. Derrick Bell   Professor of Law