KILSON ON ETHNIC CHARGE

To the Editors of The Crimson:

While I was enjoying the sun of the South Pacific islands (as lecturer not tourist) in late November and while out of Cambridge again in mid-December the Crimson carried two items which require comment. In the Nov 25 Crimson Peter Hardie informs us that admitting a Negro to Harvard is equivalent to offering poisoned water to a thirsty man. In the December 15 Crimson this twisted fringe of the new ethnicity thrust in American life gains another supporter in the person of Hope Reisman, who insists that her Jewish identity is gravely offended by Christians who celebrate Christ's birth within the confines of Harvard College.

Instead of persisting in a course that might well convert their extremist perceptions of ethnicity into a dangerous ethnic cleavaging of life at Harvard University, would Mr. Hardie and Ms. Reisman consider the following alternatives. For Peter Hardie, withdrawal from Harvard College and enrollment in the blackest of the blackest college he can locate. For Hope Reisman, Jewish seclusion in her own Jewish abode off campus.

It is, after all, a bit much for Mr. Hardie and Ms. Reisman to expect the rest of us to accept the premises upon which their new ethnic zealousness rests. Martin Kilson   Professor of Government