Harvard Profs Face Life In Often Harsh Setting

While Boston is in many respects a cultural haven for scholars, the city has long struggled with a reputation as a city inhospitable to its Black residents.

Harvard traditionally goes out of its way to court potential faculty members. But for prospective Black professors, who seek a social community and a peaceful place to raise a family, Boston can appear less than receptive.

"I think that Boston is too self-satisfied about its liberal reputation," says Dean of Students Archie C. Peps III. "There are enough horror stories going around to suggest that moving into this environment is a problem, not so much of blatant racism but of subtle racism."

Peps points to area studies that show that when crimes are committed against Black victims, white bystanders are less quick to offer aid.

Active prejudice occasionally manifests in the city, as it did two years ago when Charles Stuart, a white man, killed his wife and then accused a Black man of the murder. But what can make Boston difficult for Black professionals on a daily basis, Peps and other Black academics say, is the apparent absence of Blacks altogether.

The Red Sox and the Celtics have long been criticized for the severe dearth of Black fans in their stands. And some Boston streets, scholars say, are as devoid of Black faces are the city's sports arenas.

It is possible to walk in various sections of Boston, such as Newbury Street and Copley Square, and very rarely see a Black person, says Assistant Professor of English and Afro-American studies Philip Brian Harper.

"My experience had been that Boston was a very difficult place to live in as a Black person," says Harper, who has lived in the Boston area since graduating from Cornell.

And the problems are often more pronounced, he says, for middle class Blacks. Harper describes "an intense invisibility that characterizes professional Blacks in this city."

The Black middle class, Epps says, is often difficult to find, and even harder to access. It is a "small and highly diffuse group," he says. "Except for some social organizations, you won't find much cohesion."

Scholarship, Epps says, often brings Black academics together, making the Boston experience more comfortable.

"I think there are enough Black scholars here to form a real community," he says.

Scholars say a number of organizations reach out to Black families and help make new arrivals to the city feel welcome.

But efforts by the Black community aren'talways sufficient to make Black professionals feelwelcome in Boston.

Many Black professors say they are warned aboutspecific areas--Charlestown, South Boston andsometimes the North End--that they should avoidfor safety's sake.

"Hypersegregated" is the word Professor ofAfro-American Studies K. Anthony Appiah uses todescribe the city he moved to last year.

When he considered coming to Harvard, Appiahrecalls, some of his peers in academia questionedthe prospects of life in Boston.

"Around the country among Black people, there'sa general feeling that Boston is not hospitable inregard to race," says Associate Professor ofPsychiatry Alvin F. Poussaint, the Harvard MedicalSchool's associate dean for minority affairs.

Boston's reputation, Poussaint says, is aconcern for prospective Black students, facultymembers and businesspeople.

"I have gotten questions many times by peoplebeing recruited here...asking about the racialatmosphere in the city," Poussaint says."Frequently, they are influenced by the negativeimage that Boston has."

Appiah, who is the head tutor of the Afro-Amdepartment, says prospective recruits may havereservations about Boston's racial atmosphere. "Aswe are trying to recruit faculty to otherprograms, it will be one of the things that I'msure will come up," he says.

But Afro-Am Chair Henry Louis Gates Jr., whojoined the Harvard faculty last year, saysBoston's racial climate is significantly betterthan what he experienced elsewhere in his academiccareer.

Gates worked for several years in Ithaca, NewYork, a town he describes as "isolated anduniformly white from the snow to the people."

When he and Appiah taught together at Cornell,Gates says, they brought nine Black scholars tothe faculty. "If we could recruit Black people toIthaca, New York, we figured recruiting Blackpeople to Boston would not be so difficult," Gatessays.

When he taught at Duke University, Gatesrecalls, he found Durham, North Carolina to be"full of racist rednecks."

When he went into public with his wife, who iswhite, Gates said that he "felt like we were inthe Twilight Zone."

He doesn't get the same stares or strangeglances in Boston, he says, calling the city "avery sophisticated place," full of culturalinstitutions and academic programs related toAfro-American studies.

Many of the Black professors Harvard willrecruit, Appiah says, come from places like Durhamand Ithaca, or from New Haven, Conn., which hasracial problems of its own. They will arrive inBoston accustomed to racial tension and used toseeing few other Black faces.

"It isn't as if they're going to be coming fromsomewhere with no problems," Appiah says. "They'renot starting from scratch."Crimson File PhotoHENRY LOUIS GATES JR.

But efforts by the Black community aren'talways sufficient to make Black professionals feelwelcome in Boston.

Many Black professors say they are warned aboutspecific areas--Charlestown, South Boston andsometimes the North End--that they should avoidfor safety's sake.

"Hypersegregated" is the word Professor ofAfro-American Studies K. Anthony Appiah uses todescribe the city he moved to last year.

When he considered coming to Harvard, Appiahrecalls, some of his peers in academia questionedthe prospects of life in Boston.

"Around the country among Black people, there'sa general feeling that Boston is not hospitable inregard to race," says Associate Professor ofPsychiatry Alvin F. Poussaint, the Harvard MedicalSchool's associate dean for minority affairs.

Boston's reputation, Poussaint says, is aconcern for prospective Black students, facultymembers and businesspeople.

"I have gotten questions many times by peoplebeing recruited here...asking about the racialatmosphere in the city," Poussaint says."Frequently, they are influenced by the negativeimage that Boston has."

Appiah, who is the head tutor of the Afro-Amdepartment, says prospective recruits may havereservations about Boston's racial atmosphere. "Aswe are trying to recruit faculty to otherprograms, it will be one of the things that I'msure will come up," he says.

But Afro-Am Chair Henry Louis Gates Jr., whojoined the Harvard faculty last year, saysBoston's racial climate is significantly betterthan what he experienced elsewhere in his academiccareer.

Gates worked for several years in Ithaca, NewYork, a town he describes as "isolated anduniformly white from the snow to the people."

When he and Appiah taught together at Cornell,Gates says, they brought nine Black scholars tothe faculty. "If we could recruit Black people toIthaca, New York, we figured recruiting Blackpeople to Boston would not be so difficult," Gatessays.

When he taught at Duke University, Gatesrecalls, he found Durham, North Carolina to be"full of racist rednecks."

When he went into public with his wife, who iswhite, Gates said that he "felt like we were inthe Twilight Zone."

He doesn't get the same stares or strangeglances in Boston, he says, calling the city "avery sophisticated place," full of culturalinstitutions and academic programs related toAfro-American studies.

Many of the Black professors Harvard willrecruit, Appiah says, come from places like Durhamand Ithaca, or from New Haven, Conn., which hasracial problems of its own. They will arrive inBoston accustomed to racial tension and used toseeing few other Black faces.

"It isn't as if they're going to be coming fromsomewhere with no problems," Appiah says. "They'renot starting from scratch."Crimson File PhotoHENRY LOUIS GATES JR.