WBZ's Walker Speaks at AWARE Panel

WBZ TV newscaster Liz Walker led a joint Office of Race Relations and Harvard Foundation panel discussion last evening on the importance of race relations on campus.

The event, entitled "Images and Realities of Race Relations on College Campus. Why it Matters," was the third program in the fourth annual Actively Working Against Racism and Ethnocentrism (AWARE) Week.

Other panel members included S. Allen Counter, the director of the Harvard Foundation and Hilda Hernandez Gravelle, the assistant dean for race relations and minority affairs. Also present were four student leaders from various campus race relations groups.

Walker opened the discussion by comparing the state of race relations today to the heydays of student activism in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

"When I was in your shoes, social changes were acted out on college campuses," Walker said. "Yet, here we are in 1993 demanding the same things. It's so disheartening."

"Sexism and racism are alive and well," She said. "What you do on the college campus reflects what will happen in the world."

Counter said he believes that despite progress over the past 20 years, Harvard still has "a long way to go" in improving interracial communication.

"We have witnessed an evolution over the past two decades," he said.

"But there is still too much misunderstanding." Counter said, "We must live together, respect each other."

Hernandez-Gravelle said she believes many myths surround racism. Among them, she said, are the idea that racist incidents do not happen at places "like Harvard" and the notion that race relations discussions only exacerbate the problem.

"People think if you stop talking about it, it will go away," she said.

Constance I Chang '94, the former president of the Asian American Association (AAA), said she agrees that the University's main problem is that students do not freely discuss racial issues.

"Ignorance about minority groups happens, even at places like Harvard that are rich in cultural diversity," she said. "Too much talk is shrouded in [politically correct] language."

Chang said she believes Harvard needs a University wide commitment to improve face relations," beginning with the establishment of an ethnic studies curriculum.

Lilia Fernandez '94, former president of RAZA, agreed that students do not see their ethnic groups represented in the curriculum or the classrooms.

"Students of color do not really feel they are part of this campus," she said.

She said she believes the administration does not adequately support student groups.

"Student groups serve a purpose on this campus for all of us," she said, "educating others about our communities."

The final event for AWARE Week will be an alumni discussion at noon tomorrow in Lowell House on the importance of college activism to generate social change.