As students living in the United States, we condemn in the strongest possible terms the recent escalation in US military aggression across the Middle East and the rest of the world. In a similar spirit of willful blindness, Media Matters describes Derrick Bell as a respected academic” and an influential figure in the Civil Rights movement” This portrayal is reminiscent of Barack Obama’s pathetic characterization, a few years back, of Bill Ayers as just a guy who lives in my neighborhood.” But just as the reality of Bill Ayers was far more interesting than Obama indicated at that time, the truth about Derrick Bell is likewise far more compelling than the pablum the left has provided in the wake of this latest video.
Aside from one cursory exchange on Friday, the police have not approached Reclaim Harvard Law for any information or evidence. It’s unfortunate that the climate at Harvard Law School is so hostile to dissenting views that students feel they have to remain anonymous to support academic freedom.
We challenge Harvard Law School to be not merely a school of law, but also a school of justice. On November 19, 2008, Elena Kagan presented the Harvard Law School Medal of Freedom to Iftikhar Chaudhry, the controversial Chief Justice of Pakistan. Yet, three years later, Obama used a different Social Security number for an address listed as: 713 Hart Senate Office Building.
Harvard Law professors have come out and spoken against Ms. Willingham trying to prove that the evidence does not match her story. The students and staff met daily to identify the sources of systemic oppression and to discuss ways in which this oppression might be remedied in the law school.
We, the undersigned, believe that Harvard Law School must be an inclusive community. It often leads students to avoid sensitive topics altogether out of fear of giving offense. In the 1970s, Hughes created the urban radio format called The Quiet Storm” on Howard University’s radio station (WHUR) with its very first disc jockey she chose, the late Melvin Lindsay (who was a Howard University student, at the time).
