Masked Racism

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Harvard College seeks to maintain an instructional and work environment free from racial harassment. The College defines racial harassment as actions on the part of an individual or group that demean or abuse another individual or group because of racial or ethnic background. Such actions may include but are not restricted to using racial epithets, making racially derogatory remarks, and using racial stereotypes. (Handbook for Students 1991-92, p. 87)

We are disgusted and outraged by the Peninsula's advertisement and sponsorship of an event entitled: "Spade Kicks: A Symposium on Modernity and the Negro as a Paradigm of Sexual Liberation." The terms "spade" and "Negro" used to identify African-Americans have angered and offended the Black community. "Spade" is an epithet similar to "nigger" in its derogatory denotation of African-Americans. Likewise, while the term "Negro" was historically used to describe African-Americans until the 1960s, its usage without qualification is now considered unacceptable and offensive. Furthermore, the title's assertion of the "Negro as a Paradigm of Sexual Liberation" invokes stereotypes of black sexuality--blacks as oversexed, more promiscuous, less sexually inhibited, and possessing a greater libido than whites, to name a few.

Equally offensive was the advertisement for the "symposium" which features a photograph of what appears to be a light-skinned Black woman doing a strip-tease in front of a white audience while a Black male saxophonist played in the background. The photograph is framed by the title and the following quotation from Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road,"...just old-fashioned spade kicks. What other kicks are there?" The image generated by the picture is one of Blacks as entertainment for whites. This image is intensified by the use of the word "paradigm" in the title and Kerouac's quotation, which implies that this kind of performance is an exclusively Black activity: "What other kicks are there?" The title and flier are not only intellectually irresponsible but blatantly racist,and we consider them to be nothing less than hate speech.

What are the conditions that make this "symposium" and its publicity possible on a campus that ostensibly wishes to foster an environment free of racial harassment? In our opinion, it is the University's refusal to define and enforce restrictions on hate speech. Thus, groups like Peninsula are able to mask racism under the guise and protection of free speech. A lack of any policy regarding hate speech makes us wonder just what the limits of hate speech are (if any exists) and who must be offended in order for such limits to be enforced. We do not believe that racist hate speech directed against black students has merited equal consideration in matters of this kind.

The Dean of the College, L. Fred Jewett, has recommended that Peninsula change the flier advertising this event. This pathetic gesture, suggesting a mere cosmetic change, fails to address the real issue and is another example of the University's evasion of the matter of hate speech. Tamara D. Duckworth '91-'92   Mecca J. Nelson '92   Lisa-Marie Robinson '94