The Pan-African Alliance has fought for a number of goals at Tufts since its inception in the late 1960's. Among them have always been minority faculty retention and tenure, increased recruitment of qualified students of color, and the promotion of a generally healthy atmosphere for students of color. This was the purpose of the attendance of the vast majority of those at the trustee luncheon on Saturday. The scope of the PAA's issues span beyond its distaste for ThePrimary Source.
The PAA has always known it to be both immoral and not keeping with the ideas of diversity or free speech to advocate for the abolishment of The Primary Source. We cannot, but more importantly, should not involve ourselves in the business of policing people's thoughts.
What we planned as a clam and intelligent dialogue with some of the most powerful people associated with Tufts turned into a childish and non-progressive fiasco toward the end of the event. But those who caused all the ruckus were not members of the PAA. In fact, they only served to tarnish the image of this organization and the students of color it represents. African Americans have adapted continuously to the set of obstacles presented to us in this country. Just about all of us understand that adult behavior yields adult solutions.
Some of the leaders of various other extreme campus organizations have dragged personal animus for one another into the stage of what should be a civil and necessary debate on this campus. Since my freshman year, I have seen a steady progression of recrimination and violence between these extremists that is silly at best and damnable at its worst. And on Saturday, some of them hijacked the pressing concerns of the PAA for their own myopic and selfish cares.
