I want to thank The Daily Free Press for printing David Horowitz’s ad against slavery reparations. Of the 46 schools in the nation that have received the ad, only nine of them, including The Daily Free Press, had the courage to publish it.
Even the editors of the Harvard Crimson refused to publish the ad. How ironic that Harvard’s motto is Veritas (truth), yet its student publication refuses to publish perspectives that it disagrees with. As Mr. Horowitz himself points out, “Even in the dark days of the McCarthy era, communists could buy ad space in the Crimson, express their views and have their ideas heard.” How far we have come!
I am not sure if the editors of The Daily Free Press agree with all of the comments in Mr. Horowitz’s ad. Either way, they deserve credit for printing ideas that aren’t popular ones.
In response to Andrea Kelly’s letter (“Offensive ad sparks racial controversy” March 14), I do not believe she completely understands what Mr. Horowitz is trying to accomplish with his ads. I would like to point out that contrary to Ms. Kelly’s suggestions, Mr. Horowitz is familiar with black America. In fact, during the ’50s and ’60s, he was a civil rights activist with ties to the Black Panthers. It wasn’t until the 1980s that Mr. Horowitz’s political affiliations dramatically changed, and he began to emerge as a prominent conservative figure.
Mr. Horowitz ideas on race do not stem from racism but from a frustration at the Left’s inability to solve racial problems that he sees. In fact, here is Mr. Horowitz’s explanation for the ads he has been running across the nation: “In fact, I do not see myself in confrontation with the African-American community at all. My fight is with the African-American left. The entire thrust of the ad I attempted to place — ‘Ten Reasons Why Reparations Is a Bad Idea and Racist Too’ — was to dissuade African-Americans from following the dead-end path of racial provocation down which leftwing arsonists are leading them.”
University of California Regent Ward Connerly made the following comments: “To censor David Horowitz’s ad against slavery reparations as a form of “bigotry” is as ominous as the accusations of ‘Communism’ which were often used to intimate and silence unpopular opinion a half century ago. (By the way, I happen to agree with Mr. Horowitz’s position on reparations, which is shared by millions of Americans.) Instead of the ‘Red Scare,’ the banner of today’s censorship comes from the political Left and flies under the colors of multiculturalism.”
Are Mr. Horowitz’s comments provocative? Yes they are. They have to be, otherwise they would not be heard. But are they malicious, racist, manipulative? Absolutely not.
The pursuit of political correctness is the struggle to preserve the ideas of the status quo. Lesser men cower at the thought of being politically incorrect as if their very lives were in danger. Mr. Horowitz is not one of those men. He will not allow the present political atmosphere to prevent him from speaking honestly and directly about his beliefs.
With the help of the Young America’s Foundation, the BU College Republicans are bringing Mr. Horowitz to campus. Anyone interested in hearing more about what Mr. Horowitz has to say about race should attend this lecture. He will be speaking on April 2 in School of Management in Room 105 at 8:00 p.m. Everyone is invited.
Nick Savides COM ’03 BU College Republicans, President
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
