West Speaks Out Against Revenge, War Afghanistan

Cornel R. West ’74, the controversial Harvard College Professor of Afro-American Studies, led a packed anti-war panel discussion in Langdell Hall at the Harvard Law School last night.

“Revenge may be sweet in the short term, but in the end, how adolescent and immature it is,” West said.

About 200 people attended the crowded forum, which was titled “Why Peace? Why Now?” The discussion was sponsored by the Harvard Initiative for Peace and Justice (HIPJ) and the Middle Eastern Law Students Association. The purpose of the forum was to examine the current war in Afghanistan.

Other members of the panel included Religion lecturer Brian Palmer, Meyer Professor of Middle East History Roger Owen and Timothy P. McCarthy, a lecturer in history and literature. Each spoke for about 15 minutes.

According to Yi-Ping Ong, a graduate student in philosophy and the moderator of the dicussion, the panelists were selected because they were the “right combination of people” to take part in this “democratic dialogue.”

During his talk, West emphasized the need for critical thinking and humanism in responding to the attacks on September 11 and the retaliation against Afghanistan. “The first casualty of war is truth, the second is dissent, and the third is civil liberty,” he said.

“It is the role of the member of a democratic republic to think critically,” he said to a sympathetic audience. “More than anything we need courage and compassion.”

West went on to quote his recent speech on hip-hop at the ARCO Forum, saying that the United States has been “niggerized ... and it has the blues.”

Palmer, Owen and McCarthy said the mounting civilian casualties from the bombing campaigh in Afghanistan were similar to those resulting from American interventions in the Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War.

“Like father, like son,” Palmer said. “We are paying the price for President George W. Bush’s failures of intellect and imagination.”

McCarthy, who reported that he had just been named by a conservative think tank as one of 117 academics “short on patriotism and a threat to this country,” had a similar view of the president and his administration. (See story, page A-1)

“We have a paralyzed body politic and a very stupid leader,” he said. “Don’t tell me I’m unpatriotic because I don’t fly a flag off my balcony.”

A question and answer session immediately following the panel included discussions of hate crimes, homophobia, democracy and American foreign policy.

All of the speeches were met with applause from the crowd. Many audience members said they were impressed by the open atmosphere of the forum and the moral issues it addressed.

“I liked how the panel dealt with various concerns with the war -- concerns that are, for the most part, ignored by the mainstream media,” said Yan Xuan ’05.

In addition to more discussion panels, HIPJ is also planning to offer photography exhibits and film screenings related to the war.