Remembering South Africa

THE DAILY PAPERS afford little reminder that South Africa is a continuing moral issue. For Namibia or East Timor or any of the more questionable applications of U.S. foreign policy, the awareness of apartheid flickers and fades on the horizon of issues that concern the U.S. citizen. Grenada invasions, dying Marines in Lebanon and suspended nuclear proliferation negotiations are visible and significant issues that easily come to the forefront, while the so-called South Africa question is all but gone.

At Harvard, as on other college campuses, the issue of South Africa and morality has been periodically and hotly debated. Is it right for an institution of higher learning to invest in corporations that do business in South Africa, a country that practices a legally institutionalized racism? In 1978 students responded to that question by marching in the thousands through the streets of Cambridge in protest. Some took over Massachusetts Hall, in an action reminiscent of 60s protests. Last year, public attention grew briefly when a group of students and one Faculty member fasted for seven days. At the same time, the senior class began an alternative class gift fund called Endowment for Divestiture, planning to hold donations in an escrow account until Harvard divests.

The mere persistence of student concern suggests that the South Africa issue is worth consistent pressure. The Harvard Foundation and Leverett House sponsored a day-long symposium entitled South Africa: A Day of Dialogue, earlier this month which attempted to offer just that. The Arco Forum at the Kennedy School was not packed, but those who attended said they had learned a lot. Those who did not attend missed a chance to become less ignorant.

Why should South Africa be considered important here? First, there are the contradictions in U.S. foreign policy. During the Carter Administration, a policy of sanctions and limits on U.S. investments was imposed, and is considered to be one of the reasons for the growth of Black trade unions in South Africa. Although Jimmy Carter's policies have since been denounced as somewhat shortsighted, the Reagan Administration has gone further, taking an almost Orwellian line. At the beginning of his presidency, Reagan announced that a policy of so-called "constructive engagement" would make for a greater shift in South African policy towards Blacks. That has not happened. He said that a friendly alliance with South Africa had its roots in World War II, when South Africa served as a wartime ally. In reality, half of the important cabinet members, including former Prime Minister John Vorster, refused to assist in the war against the Nazis.

These contradictions parallel those of the Harvard administration. President Bok responded to protests last year by reissuing a statement of five years earlier. He has refused invitations to defend the University position in public. And the establishment of the Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility (ACSR) in the early 1970s can only be viewed as a tool of the administration, making it appear to be initiating change. The ACSR now makes non-binding suggestions which the Corporation seldom follows.

Students and members of the Harvard community should be aware of the issues surrounding divestiture and the policies of the South African government; more to the point, they should try harder to become, more familiar with those concerns. Because the complexities apparent in the paradox that is South Africa reflect the problems of our society--racism, economic inequality as a result of the capitalist system, Third World health problems, and the role of corporate investment in developing countries--it represents a sort of Pandora's Box. When it is opened, the ramifications will be felt by all humanity. So South Africa cannot be ignored; the issue is here to stay. If nothing else, closer examination of the facts--the kind sparked by the Day of Dialogue--will make it easier for people to understand when, friends and colleagues shout in the streets, "Harvard Out of South Africa."