Desegregate!

FOR THE PAST SEVERAL weeks. I've worn a button on my back-pack. It says: "Desegregate Harvard Now!" and, around the border. "Third World Coalition." When I bought it from a friend who is an active member of the Law School's Third World Coalition. I remember commenting that it was a little overstated, but that I agree with the sentiment expressed--a demand for an increased minority presence at Harvard.

I don't consider this a radical position, but recent reactions to the slogan have shown that many others do. In addition to the usual skepticism, responses have run the gamut from slight amusement to overt hostility

One person, mistaking "desegregate" for "desecrate," laughed and asked jokingly whether Third World students really wanted to go that far. Most people who commented on the button argued that the campus is already desegregated. Just look around, there are a smattering of minority faces in any classroom, they say

I would be foolish to ignore the progress which has been made in attracting minorities to Harvard in the past 20 years Since 1969 College enrollment of Blacks. Chieanos, Puerto Rican, and Native Americans has more than doubled. But Harvard remains disproportionately white and upper middle class--and in the last three years. Black matriculation has significantly decreased. This year's admissions statistics show that the decline will probably continue.

Even more distressing is that the white response to imposed power sharing--for Harvard is where the country's political and economic powers begin--has been an increasingly negative one. Already critics have challenged the legitimacy and efficacy of policies aimed at reducing discrimination, such as affirmative action. Minorities have barely gotten to their knees, but are already being pushed back down. Within this context, the call for an end to desegregation is not the least bit alarmist.

In the technical sense of the term, Harvard is desegregated--people of different races are not consigned to separate Houses or classrooms. But the term has taken on a broader meaning against the backdrop of the 1960s Civil Rights movement. Its literal meaning has been eclipsed, and rightly so, by a consideration of more than just numerical representation.

When we demand that Harvard desegregate, we speak of all components of the University. One would also be hard pressed to argue that the Faculty of Arts and Sciences is integrated, with only seven tenured Blacks and no tenured Chicano or Puerto Ricans. If Harvard wants to become a truly desegregated, multi-racial institution, each of its components--from administration to course offerings--must incorporate perspectives other than those of white males.

Statements from College officials accusing minority student groups of separatism, or blaming low minority representation in the Faculty on the lack of qualified minority applicants, continue to make questionable Harvard's commitment to racial diversity. The situation is alarming. I stand by my button: desegregate Harvard now!