For the Defense

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Damon Silvers' position on the South African situation puts him in direct opposition to the current racist South African regime, and to any support of that regime through investment in companies that do business in South Africa. Any implication to the contrary is ludicrous. More specifically, the letter to The Crimson (SASC, March 15) signed by Henry Park and others is an outrageous patch work of misrepresentation and innuendo.

Silvers' article (Divestiture: A History, March 5) was a statement on past successes and present targets of the divestiture movement on campus. It presented a coherent and informative view of the past and called for complete divestiture as a moral imperative. Silvers repeated this demand in his speech at the open meeting of the Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility on March 12. Speaking to the members of the committee, and an audience of about 150, Silvers said divestiture would send a message to Black South Africans and white South Africans alike that Harvard has not faith in the perpetuation of the present regime. He does not suggest "reasoning" with the racist minority government of South Africa, but rather with drawing its economic foundation. It is perfectly clear whose side Damon Silvers is on, what is not clear is why "some former members of SASC and other anti-apartheid activists" are so confused. Elizabeth Senato '86   Kathleen Walker '86   Stephen Hanna '86   Michael Albert '85   Miriam Messinger '87