IOP Explores Minority Representation

Minority representation is under attack by a "well-organized cabal of reactionaries," the chair of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) told students at last weekend's conference on minority representation.

Julian Bond was the keynote speaker at the conference, organized by the Institute of Politics (IOP), which drew about 150 students from colleges across the Northeast (Please see related story, page A-3).

Panel discussions and debate on issues ranging from racial gerrymandering to funding for minority candidates filled the two-day conference.

Bond's speech focused on the 1965 Voting Rights Act. According to Bond, opponents of the act are "determined to eliminate fairness for racial minorities".

Bond told audience members of his experiences as a student activist in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and encouraged current students get involved as well.

"It affects each of them", Bond said. "It affects the world that they are going to live in".

Events on Saturday began with an extremely courteous debate between Jim Sleeper, author of Liberal Racism, and John Mack, president of the Los Angeles Urban League and an IOP fellow. Mack and Sleeper debated whether the United States should pursue policies that aim to elect minority candidates to office.

Donald W. Tunnage, a public defender, moderated the debate and said he thought that both sides ultimately wanted to reach the final goal of equal representation.

"Finding the best path requires input from everyone who wants to get there", Tunnage said.

Following the debate, the conference split into two discussion groups on voter registration and education and the upcoming census.

On Capitol Hill, a heated partisan debate is being waged over whether to use statistical sampling in the 2000 census, a method which minority leaders say would more accurately count underrepresented groups.

"The session really clarified the issue [of the 2000 census]", said Ari E. Waldman '02. "I understand that the whole debate is 90 percent politically motivated, but it is too important to simply cast off because it will determine the political domination for the next 10 years".

The conference closed with a panel discussion on minority representation.

Hannah Choi '01, chair of the IOP's conferences committee, said the decision to focus on the issue of minority representation was made last year in hope of culminating a year-long series of IOP events which dealt with race.

"I hope that everyone walks out of the conference today with a better idea of what it means to be represented racially or otherwise", Choi said. "I don't want anyone to leave with an answer handed to them, but I hope that they learn about the issues and decide how they feel".

Several students said they plan to learn more about the issues that the conference focused on.

"The debate is so unresolved and it's not just historical. It's challenging and intriguing", said Molly E. McOwen '02. "I was mostly inspired to learn more".

Although the conference dealt with education on minority representation issues, action is being planned by national and campus groups.

Several national minority groups will gather today to protest that only 2 percent of the 394 clerks hired to date by the nine justices of the Supreme Court have been minorities.

Bond also said he planned to meet with Harvard students who are interested in beginning a campus chapter of the NAACP.