Constructive Anger

Members of the Association of Black Harvard Women (ABHW) and the Black Men’s Forum (BMF) enjoyed their annual ABHW/BMF Challenge this past weekend. Amid games of dodgeball, capture the flag, spades, and relay races, the participants got a special surprise: a visit from the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD).

The encounter with the police was brief, but it did not go unnoticed. Furthermore, students found out later that there had been a full chain of emails questioning their presence on the Quad field. Those sending the emails expressed doubt that the people on the Quad were Harvard students, and expressed annoyance that their precious grass was being destroyed. As participants of the Challenge heard about these emails and began to read them, many of them felt emotions in the realm of hurt, frustration, and anger.

Expressing his frustration, Ralph L. Bouquet ’09, who was present at the challenge, stated, “The tone of a lot of the emails angered me. There was a total disregard for the possibility that we could be Harvard students. Contacting the police first—instead of the tutors or the house masters—indicated a severe problem with perceptions of black students on campus.”

Bouquet was not the only person angry, frustrated, and hurt by the events that unfolded this past weekend. Many people have identified race to be a factor in the way in which things were handled this past Saturday. I am inclined to agree with these allegations.

I am not suggesting that people were overtly malicious and attempted to run all of the black people off of the Quad; however, I am arguing that the skin color of the people playing in the field was a factor in how the situation was handled. No matter how liberal people in this community may believe themselves to be, there is still a great amount of latent and unconscious racism present—even at Harvard. This phenomenon is acutely noticed by black students, many of whom have previously had negative experiences due to their race.

So, yes, many black students are angry. In light of the events this past weekend and the experiences that many of us have had in the past, this anger is definitely justified.

It’s justifiable for people to feel angry when people look at them as if they don’t belong. It’s reasonable for people to be hurt when they feel as if there is a perception that they are dangerous. It’s completely understandable for people to get peeved when they constantly have to prove that issues of race still exist, while countless people try to deny that they don’t and that they are not factors in how people of color are treated.

This is not the time for us to run away from this anger. This is not the moment for the hurt of the black community to be concealed. Suggestions such as, “Calm down; I’m sure race had nothing to do with it,” and, “Why can’t we just come together and forget about this?” can seem patronizing at best, and completely dismissive at worst.

Bygones are not bygones, and nothing should be forgotten. What happened this past Saturday was not an isolated incident. It was a reflection of the attitudes and perceptions of black people that are prevalent throughout society. This has not been the first incident at Harvard that has made people of color feel uncomfortable, and I doubt it will be the last.

This is why it is crucial for us to seize this moment of anger. We cannot let it pass and become silent again. We must use this hurt. We must channel our pain in order to make sure that these occurrences take place much less frequently.

The current sentiments of many black students must be used constructively. Our anger should not morph into hate; rather, it should evolve into determination. We must be determined to work together in order to make sure that everyone is treated with equal respect.

Again, I believe that the problem facing us is not one of conscious racism. It is, instead, embedded into the minds of people at a usually subconscious level. When these thoughts and perceptions manifest themselves in the form of unfair treatment and quick assumptions, the dignity and legitimacy of the place of certain people in our society and our community are questioned.

We should all be angry about this. Just as issues of race do not solely affect one group, they cannot be solved by one group alone. While it is not necessarily the spiteful intent of a majority of individuals to inflict racial inequalities on people of color, the structure of a society which is heir to a legacy of racial oppression disseminates these negative attitudes throughout our culture.

This is a fight that people from all races and all backgrounds can fight. Challenging oneself to overcome unconscious racism on a day-to-day basis is a step that anybody can take. On a broader level, institutions such as the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations and the race relations tutors in the different houses can have an immense impact on how we view and interact with people from different backgrounds and cultures.

Our anger should not be pacified; instead, it should be used productively in order to tear down that which caused it in the first place.


Lumumba Seegars ’09 is a Social Studies concentrator in Dunster House. His column appears regularly.