It’s been with curiosity that I have followed the different responses on campus to the David Horowitz advertisement on March 12 and the article by Justin Fong of the Harvard Crimson (“Harvard writer combats racism allegations” March 22). It seems to me that with these two pieces coming so closely together that there has been a marked increase of people freely speaking their mind about matters related to race. It could be that I am just not paying close attention to what’s been said in the public forum of our media venues, but it does seem that these particular pieces have been celebrated as — to paraphrase their supporters — a courageous and welcomed departure for the guarded language of political correctness.
I am not one who celebrates the authors, but I do agree that something has changed with the appearance of these racially charged advertisements and pieces. Race is emerging once again as a subject of conversation on campuses in the Boston area.
I am concerned, however, by the tenor of this conversation, and more to the point, I am grieved by the approach that Horowitz and Fong (and their supporters) have taken with these issues. Reading their respective pieces, it seems pretty clear to me that the authors are not simply sharing an opinion, but trying to provoke. The word choice, the gross generalizations and the stereotypes are simply inflammatory and, as I’d like to suggest, entirely unnecessary.
But no one is really talking about that. Instead it seems to me that we have gotten hung up on the point that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, and again, this is particularly true among the supporters of Horowitz and Fong. Even the editors of The Boston Globe, who clearly disdain Horowitz, have defended these sorts of pieces out of passion for the First Amendment and the value of freedom within our presses.
I’m not going to argue against that fundamental freedom we enjoy. You won’t find me attempting to re-write the Constitution or squelch someone’s right to have an opinion. I’ll even grant that our First Amendment rights give us enough latitude to make a total ass of ourselves before the public eye.
But I hope and I pray that there will be more to guide our conversation about race than our right to share our opinion. Sure, everyone is entitled to speak his or her mind, even when their opinions are not politically correct, but for the same measure every person and every group is entitled to respect.
What I found to be sorely lacking in both the Horowitz and the Fong piece was any real consideration of the people affected by the issues they address. While it was easy to tell that they felt passionately about their subject, there is no reason to think that they care to understand the communities they critique. There are ways to disagree over an issue, even a situation, without diminishing another’s person’s experience or perspective. But it requires the hard work of intelligent research and dignified communication — work that is hard to do when we are consumed only with our right to say whatever we like.
Let me put it another way. To have a meaningful conversation on race, it’s going to require that we become less concerned about our rights and more concerned about our responsibility to maintain good relationship with one another. Of course, I realize that the Constitution doesn’t clearly require this sort of respect, but I think it’s vital for the health of our nation.
On the note of responsibility, I’d like to close by expressing my displeasure in the choices made by The Daily Free Press to run the Horowitz advertisement without providing an in-depth exploration of the issues surrounding reparations. Certainly there must be among the faculty and students at Boston University some who have thought through the issue and come to different or at least more informed conclusions. To take the money for an advertisement that advances a controversial perspective without engaging the issue in your own coverage is poor form.
William Cole-French
Affiliated Chaplain with the BU InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
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