Cover Page of the Report on Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery
Headstone on the Grave of an Enslaved Girl Named Cicely at Harvard University
Last week Harvard issued a 134 page report on the legacy of slavery throughout its long history. From the prestigious school’s founding in 1636 until slavery was outlawed in Massachusetts in 1783, around 70 enslaved people were forced to work on behalf of Harvard in a variety of ways. Even after slavery ended in this country following the Civil War, Harvard’s legacy of slavery continued through wealth generated during the slavery era as well as by perpetuating racist policies and advancing the now discredited race based science of eugenics. To reckon with this long history and legacy of racial injustice, Harvard has committed $100 million to fund a series of recommendations to begin repairing the negative impacts on both individuals and communities. The video posted below is a companion piece to the report and provides insights into how Harvard is facing its own legacy of racism. It also provides a helpful example of acknowledging and addressing systemic racism, and I hope you take the time to watch the video. Other universities including Brown and Georgetown have also taken specific steps to face and address their own legacies of racism.
By choosing to face and address this uncomfortable aspect of their history, Harvard stands in stark contrast to efforts in numerous states that enacted legislation to keep students from feeling “uncomfortable” about the legacy of racism. Executive Order No. 1 in Virginia and the so-called “Stop WOKE Act” in Florida are just two examples of attempts that claim to support teaching about our nation’s past including slavery but forbid making the connection between that history and its ongoing systemic impacts today. Studying history without making connections to the present becomes a collection of irrelevant trivia. Studying history that faces the uncomfortable pain of the past in order to move toward greater levels of justice in the present becomes a powerful step on the path path to healing individuals and communities.