Not So

To the Editors of The Crimson:

A misimpression may have been created by your report in The Harvard Crimson (page 6) on Friday, May 2, 1986, regarding my reponse to an address by Mr. John Jacob, the President of The Urban League. I did not say that Mr. Jacob was "trapped in nostalgia." Rather, I stated that he should be wary of falling victim to "the treachery of nostalgia." Further, I did not describe the welfare state as "mediocre." Rather, I observed (1) that the welfare state created by the New Deal and the Great Society is a great improvement over the sort of society envisioned by reactionary critics but (2) that the welfare state, in its present form, is too constricted to address adequately the demands of a truly humane civilization. As for my reported call for "revolutionary" change, I mentioned the word revolutionary in the context of quoting the following statement by Bayard Rustin: "The Negro's struggle for equality in America is essentially revolutionary. While most negroes...unquestionably seek only to enjoy the fruits of American society as it now exists, their quest cannot objectively be satisfied within the framework of existing political and economic relations."

I am taking the time to revise and amplify your report of my comments in order to correct any false impression that I am an enemy of welfare state liberalism who adheres to some marginal, exotic brand of ultra-radical politics. I embrace many of the political and moral sentiments associated with liberalism. I maintain, however, that the highest aspirations of liberalism can only be attained by a willingness to reject certain deeply entrenched social practices and by a willingness to indulge in speculative thought that some will condemn as hopelessly utopian. Randall Kennedy   Harvard Law School