Universities confront painful past and ties to slavery
While it is rarely acknowledged, Harvard University, and several other historic colleges across the nation, were directly complicit in slavery up until the time of emancipation.
It is a history that needs to be remembered, and amends must be made if American society is ever going to have real equality; something that doesn't exist today in large part because of slavery, writer Ta-Nehisi Coates said during a keynote speech organized by Harvard University's Radcliffe Institute, which recently aired on MPR News.
"When you begin to be able to put numbers on it. When you begin to see the huge enterprise, understand that the United States of America was not a country with a little bit of slavery, but it was actually a slave society," Coates said. "When you start to wrap your head around that and what that meant, that begins to make connections to where you are now."
It's important when looking at these topics to not limit the study of enslavement to only enslavement, Coates said, it is a system that gave birth to many other systems of oppression, and the connections need to be addressed.
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It's also very important to understand the intentionality of racism. It's not about someone being impolite, it's about people speaking as if slavery and racism are out of their hands — denying responsibility in a system that was set up to benefit white people over others, Coates said.
Finally, it's important for all the universities that were involved in slavery to make reparations, he said.
"I don't know how you conduct research that shows your very existence is rooted in a great crime and you just say 'well,' shrug and maybe at best you say sorry and walk away," Coates said.
The worst thing the university system can do is close itself off to hearing those still fighting for equality, even if it means a lot of anger will be directed at them, he said. "All of us know on some emotional level that we were robbed, and that we were the victims of generational robbery."
After his speech, Coates spoke with Drew Gilpin Faust, historian and president of Harvard University, about what else universities and society as a whole can do to create a more just world.
To listen to the conversation, click the audio player above.
Further reading
• Historically Black: Tracing African-American history, success following slavery
• August Wilson: Examining the ugly contradictions in American history
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