Ethnocentric Vs Cosmopolitan

To the Editors of The Crimson:

In a recent letter to The Crimson, Kennedy School Professor Martin Kilson used an article on The Black Student's Guide to Colleges as a starting point for a pointed attack on members of the Harvard Radcliffe Black Students Association and the Third World Students' Alliance. Professor Kilson specifically voiced the opinion that current BSA undertakings such as the struggle for a Third World Center and the recent Black Alumni Weekend are unworthy of support, "ethnocentric," and dysfunctional to the so called "Cosmopolitan imperative." Preferring to ignore his unwarranted personal attacks, I would like to take issue with his view of the goals and aspirations of the Black community on campus.

As an active member of the BSA and the Black community on campus, I can assure Professor Kilson, and the University as well, that our focus is upon improving race relations and promoting a truly cosmopolitan atmosphere. I do not happen to believe that seeking to further educate the local academic environs on the diverse talents and contributions of the non-European peoples of the world is necessarily ethnocentric. As has been constantly emphasized, the proposed Third World Center would be available to all students and members of the community. I personally feel that campus racial atmospheres, while improving, continue to lack the harmony needed to accompany any serious claims of assimilation. At present there are but five Black professors on campus holding full tenure. There are no Chicano or Native American professors holding full tenure on this campus. My call for a Third World Center is based on the faith that it would serve to broaden the Harvard perspective, assist in the complete mutual understanding and elimination of the stereotypes vital to interracial relationships, and in doing so raise minority representation in University positions to more appropriate proportions.

We are proud of our unique culture. And we are also proud of our predecessors on the Harvard campus, whose struggles helped pave the way for our presence at this institution. As a measure of our appreciation and as a means of stressing the need for continued support among Blacks as well as other facets of the community, the Black Alumni Weekend has been created. I don't feel it is ethnocentric at all to encourage, entertain, and be inspired by men and women who have more experience than I concerning the construct of a cosmopolitan community. We are trying to engage in a concerted effort toward the proper recognition and success of all identities. And incidentally, on the subject of alumni resources, I would be willing to wager that reaching out to these alumni in such a personal manner will generate more contributions than a simple invitation to hallowed Harvard Commencement exercise.

In conclusion, I am shocked and disappointed by the professor's apparently slanted idea of the Black community and its point of emphasis. Choosing neither to indict not to condemn, I instead call for Professor Kilson, and all who may chance upon these words, to continue and increase the efforts we must join together towards defining and accurate, fair, and truly cosmopolitan imperative. James M. Kearney III '87