Bell's Twisted Logic

VERY FEW Crimson editors are conservative. As a conservative, I am appalled at this lack of diversity. Therefore, I refuse to write any more articles for this newspaper until the Crimson actively recruits at least five Buchanan supporters.

Ridiculous, you say? It's true that by leaving, I would substantially decrease the representation of an under-represented group and undercut the very diversity I am advocating. But that's a side issue. The important thing is that I'm protesting a lack of diversity, so it doesn't matter what I do as long as I shake up the establishment.

Weld Professor of Law Derrick Bell would certainly agree with my "less is more" logic. In fact, he inspired it. In April 1990, he took a leave of absence and vowed not to return until a Black female professor was hired.

He is currently seeking to extend his leave, and he's filing discrimination charges with the U.S. Department of Education. His request for an extension inspired a group of law students, the Coalition for Civil Rights (CCR), to sue the school for failing to provide a sufficiently diverse environment.

INSTEAD OF suing HLS, however, CCR should sue Bell. If one more Black professor would be such an increase in diversity that it's worth taking a leave of absence, then the absence of one more Black professor--i.e., Bell--is such a decrease in diversity that someone should be protesting his decision.

By withdrawing from HLS, Bell does his part to deprive students of the opportunity to benefit from a diverse faculty--the very opportunity for which CCR is suing.

Before people start slapping lawsuits on each other, though, they should investigate the facts behind Harvard's "diversity problem." Despite active efforts to recruit Black professors, Harvard's offers have been turned down by nearly half of the minority candidates they approached.

If a diversity problem exists and someone has to be blamed for it, should CCR sue those professors who rejected Harvard's offer? HLS did take the initiative, so it must be the fault of the people who turned them down--let's sue them! Clearly this is absurd.

Moreover, if Black professors who applied for a position at HLS and were turned down felt discriminated against, they would be the first to take legal action. Since this has not happened, the protests of Bell and CCR do Harvard an injustice by claiming that the school is biased.

IF BELL HAD any sense, or any real concern for civil rights, he would realize that the major problem is the small size of the pool of Black candidates in the first place. This most likely arises from educational discrepancies between Black and white students, often in the pre-college years.

Instead of sitting back and talking to the media about his heroic protest, Bell should go back and try to provide his Black law students with the best education possible, so that 10 years from now, they can increase the size of the pool of Black professors. Or he should quit and go educate the poor Black children who are the true victims of educational discrimination.

As things stand now, merely luring another Black professor to HLS would cover up the real source of the diversity dilemma: not hiring discrepancies in adulthood, but educational ones in childhood. All that Bell and CCR are doing now is diverting attention away from more important civil rights issues. Bell a civil rights martyr? Not.

Jendi B. Reiter '93, an editor of The Crimson, is not our sole, token conservative. We promise.