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Harvard Law School

Harvard Administrators Grapple With Race Relations

 
Race relations continued to be a concern over the Thanksgiving holiday at Harvard Law School. A couple weeks ago, students voiced concern about the school’s seal being based on the family crest of a ‘brutal’ slave owner. About a week ago, vandals placed black tape over the faces of the portraits of black professors at the law school.
And so on Monday (Nov. 30), Harvard Law Dean Martha Minow presented a series of proposals on how to make the school more welcoming to minority students.
“This is a time for serious challenge and serious action,” Minow said in prepared remarks and reported by the Harvard Crimson. “It’s a time when we need your talents and commitments more than ever. I called this meeting to discuss efforts underway at Harvard Law School for changes inside the school and work to tackle the challenges in the world.”
The two main actions mentioned by Minow are considering the removal of the school’s seal and a focus on hiring more diverse faculty members. Of course, the comments and proposals were met with more concern and opposition from students in attendance. According to the Crimson, second-year law student Isaac Cameron called the meeting “an absolute joke.” However, he also admitted the event being “an incredible moment” with that many higher-ups in the same place at the same time.
“This was a moment for the campus to come together and discuss how Harvard Law School can deconstruct institutional racism, and we spent an hour where you spoke and we listened,” Cameron told the Crimson. “I can’t think of a better metaphor that represents what’s wrong here on campus.”
Dehlia Umunna, a law school professor, spoke at the event and mentioned receiving an email over the weekend with a “racial slur” in the subject line. “For those folks who think that racism is not alive and well or that it’s exaggerated or contrived—it’s not,” she said at the event. “If you want to I can show it to you. It happened just on Saturday.”
According to the Crimson, Minow has already scheduled another forum for Friday, citing the fact that students were not able to voice their concerns. Finally, Minow mentioned the vandalism of professor’s portraits is an ongoing investigation and the “person or people behind” the vandalism have not been identified but the school is investigating it as a hate crime.
Source: Harvard Crimson
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