Talk Alone Is Not Sufficient

To the editors:

If brevity is indeed the soul of wit, then a group of Harvard students gathered together with the purpose of discussion is an especially witless occasion. We speak well, we have profound things to say, and we love to hear ourselves talk. The point is, it seems that all we do is talk.

The "Race@Harvard" forum on Wednesday night was a wonderful discussion. However, it stopped at discussion. Student panel member Sewell Chan '98 and Undergraduate Council President Beth A. Stewart '00 both expressed discontent with Harvard's role in promoting race relations, accusing the Administration of not taking a proactive stance. Yet they both fail to recognize that Harvard is an extremely multicultural campus, with a minority population of over 35 percent. If that is not a sign of the Administration's commitment to furthering the cause of racial integration and understanding, I do not know what is.

Sure, we could all have assigned seats at the dining halls to ensure that whites sit next to blacks, sandwiched between Asians and Hispanics. Or perhaps strategic randomization of blocking groups to purposefully break House stereotypes is in order. Or maybe we could hold even more forums and talk even more. The fact is, there is nothing the administration can do to further the cause of racial awareness and understanding, and our continued discourse can only go so far. If we want to increase racial harmony, we need to change. We cannot continue living, as Cornel West said, with separate identities as we travel through various social contexts. If we all act with different purposes around different groups of people, then we will never come to understand and appreciate the honesty that lies behind who we really are.

Instead we must follow the deal established by former Harvard President A. Lawrence Lowell, class of 1877, and stated at the forum by Dean Epps: we must continue to reinvent ourselves. We must take all that we learn, from both the classroom and the world around us, and incorporate it into one complete personality.

If we continue to discuss the lack of interracial unity while maintaining habits which promote self-segregation and latent racism, then all the talking in the world will not do a bit of good. We must change our behavior, journey to new social circles, and place ourselves in uncomfortable situations in order to improve race relations. When I look around the dining hall or at blocking group composition, I do not see that happening.

It stands to reason that Harvard's apparent lack of multicultural unity and integration is our own doing. The fault lies not in Administrative plans or lack of discourse, but in ourselves. TERENCE S. DOUGHERTY '99   March 12, 1998