Panel On Constitution Features Harvard Profs

Three Harvard University Law School professors and a member of Harvard University's W.E.B. DuBois Institute for Afro-American Research appeared last night on Channel 2, WGBH in an episode of the Boston television series "Say Brother," entitled "Are We the People?"

Timed to mark Black History Month, the special examined the strengths and weaknesses of the Constitution as they relate to people of color. It consisted of three parts: a panel discussion, a dramatic reenactment of the Brown vs. Board of Education trial, and a question-and-answer segment with a studio audience.

The show represented the "tip of the iceberg" of racism in the Constitution, said Janice M. Melton, the show's producer.

"It is a very interesting and provocative discussion," said Visiting Professor of Law Charles J. Ogletree Jr., the moderator of the panel discussion.

He said the questions from the audience, which included many community activists and educators, reflected the "profound discomfort that people of color have with the constitutional principles and theory in contrast to the applications and practice to people of color."

Margaret A. Burnham of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute called the show "an important addition to the public discussion taking place in this bicentennial year, it raises questions whether promises of equality have been real with respect to Black Americans."

The aim of the special is to demonstrate that the Constitution is a "flexible document which has to be shaped by the people it's supposed to serve," said Melton.

Burnham said the idea for the program came from a group of lawyers and professors who met at Harvard in October for a conference on "Constitution and Race."

Reaction to Life Commemoration

Melton said she decided to produce the program out of indignation at the "lack of sensitivity" in a special issue of Life magazine's on the Constitution. She said the issue of race was "not being addressed" in the magazine's analysis of the Constitution's effect on American history.

Ogletree noted "the conspicuous absence" of Black participation in the bicentennial celebration of the Constitution. He said his concerns reflected a speech by Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall last summer in which Marshall said he would not be celebrating, but carefully examining this "living document."

The special, said Ogletree, is "part of a bigger, more ambitious agenda to get people to appreciate the significance of the Constitution in the 20th century." He said WGBH may produce a follow-up presentation, but it will depend on public reaction.

The program was in the planning stage for four months. Fifteen Harvard law students and undergraduates helped to plan the program. It will be broadcast again two more times: February 27 at 8:30 p.m. on Channel 44 and February 28 at 4:30 p.m. on Channel 2.