Crimson Has Hidden Agenda

As I read the coverage of the teach-in conducted by Wellesley Professor Tony Martin, I wonder, what is The Crimson's agenda ("Martin Speaks at BSA Event," news story, Dec. 1; "Martin Speech Tests Hillel-BSA Relationship," news story, Dec. 2)!

Having attended the speech, I noticed a great falsity presented in both stories. Martin did not spend the majority of his time speaking about Jewish contributions to the racism in the Western world. He merely gave evidence which suggested that pseudo-scientific racism stems from pseudo-religious racism, which first appeared in the Babylonian Talmud.

This explanation, combined with his introduction and the stating of all his major points, took less than 15 minutes of an hour-long speech, surely not the majority of time by anybody's, except an ignorant person's, standard. During the next 45 minutes, Martin demonstrated how Protestants, Catholics and atheists contributed to the evolution of the pseudo-scientific racism aimed at the descendants of Africa.

I also wonder why The Crimson spent two days covering the Black Students Association teach-in by Martin and ignored the first teach-in sponsored by the BSA in conjunction with the Harvard Foundation, by Andrew Hacker, author of Two Nations, Black and White, Separate, Hostile and Unequal, which was attended by over 100 people on Nov. 14.

Why was the BSA's Kwanzaa celebration, which featured a keynote speaker who spoke of unity and compassion between the Black and Jewish community, relegated to page eight ("Students Celebrate Kwanzaa," news story, Dec. 5)?

The Salient tells its readers that it is a conservative journal; the Perspective openly advertises itself as a liberal weekly. Why doesn't The Crimson state its politics, since it is painfully obvious to anyone who critically analyzes your inconsistent coverage of the BSA's events? --Joshua Bloodworth '97

The writer is treasurer of the Black Students Association.