Multiculturalism Serves Racists

If one wishes to combat racism, one cannot do it by creating a multicultural student center. What the proponents of such a center do not realize is that racism is a philosophical issue, and that philosophically--wittingly or not--they are on the side of the racists.

Racism, fundamentally, is the view that a person's identity is determined by his race. In other words, it is the notion that race is responsible for a person's character, convictions and moral worth. This is irrational and corrupt.

No one would dispute that the person who says "I dislike you because you are black" is a racist. Yet today's multiculturalists speak of "racial pride" (e.g., "I like you because you are black") and do not realize that this falls under the same intellectual category.

Racism is all around us. But no one is willing to identify its philosophical nature and causes. Anyone who did would soon discover its real source: Harvard's classrooms. Harvard's professors teach as unquestionable doctrine the idea that race is all-important, and Harvard's ideological propagandists disseminate it.

Harvard's first-years are bombarded in their first week by pamphlets, speeches and meetings designed to raise their "ethnic awareness." Even college admissions are influenced by race. With all this glorification of race and ethnicity, do the racial divisions on campus come as any surprise?

If one wishes to combat racism, one can only do it through reason and individualism. But to uphold reason and individualism requires a great deal of thought and intellectual honesty, and one must start by rejecting the multiculturalist premise that the individual is determined by his race.

Every human being has the power to use his own mind, come to his own conclusions, to form his own value-judgments. One can choose to suspend his judgement and conform to the group, but that is a choice. And if one wants to lead a confident, productive and happy life, it is crucial that he choose to think for himself.

If you are one of those students who are now thinking: "But race does matter! You cannot ignore it!" I would ask you the following: Do you think race should matter? If your answer is "no," I would encourage you to start living by that conviction. Your life is too important and too precious to sacrifice it to the god of race and ethnicity. --Andrew P. Schwartz '99,   Harvard Objectivist Club