"Justice too long delayed is Justice denied." Last Saturday, these words ran through my head, repeated themselves, and grew louder and louder until finally I exploded in anger. The trustees had picked an inopportune time to mingle with the student body. A time when the Africana Center has received countless racially motivated threats. A time when our dorms have been covered in racist graffiti. A time when the Primary Source prints racially motivated attacks against the black community. A time where the concerns of the day are not a new dorm or new computers, but rather faculty retention, hate crimes, the silencing of minorities on this campus, sexism, homophobia, a timid administration, and a viciously hateful publication. The students' frustration is only amplified by living in a campus that is kept in the dark. How many of you know that Capen House has been the target of hate crimes in the past weeks? How many of you heard about the anti-semetic and racist graffiti in South?
We went to the trustees with our problems and our desires to feel safe. When we asked them questions about what they were going to do to prevent hate crimes, increase faculty retention, and improve race relations at Tufts, we were told to wait. We were told to wait by the trustees in a voice that closely echoed that heard 40 years ago when the mouths of justice were demanding desegregation. We were told that it takes time and money from the same people who have built a $30,000 elephant head for Dowling Hall and who spend their free time thinking of new buildings to name after themselves.
We were told to be patient. And sometimes we were even told that our questions didn't deserve answers or that we were acting inappropriately. It is this that is most upsetting. They are saying that both our tactics (asking pointed questions) and our timing were rude. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. answered this claim stronger than anyone in history has when he declared that he had "yet engaged in a direct action movement that was 'well-timed,' according to the timetable of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word 'Wait!' It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. This 'Wait' has almost always meant 'Never.' We must come to see with the distinguished jurist of yesterday that justice too long delayed is justice denied."
The truth is that we live and work in a racist, segregated university. For those of you at the Trustee luncheon, how many people of color did you see among the trustees? When I was trustee rep last year, the board was over 95 percent white. Quick, name half a dozen black faculty members? How about Asian or Latino faculty members who are not language professors? How many times have you seen an all-white table in the dinning hall? Why do we all sit together anyway? Hate crimes are commonplace on this campus.
We went to the trustees, not to be rude, but to explain our sense of urgency. An urgency that rings true in the heart of every student on this campus who has been a victim of Tufts' segregation. An urgency pronounced upon the lips of everyone concerned with justice. An urgency that may have been demanding, but was timely, necessary, and could no longer be brushed aside.
Now is not a time to wait, now is a time for action! The brave students that stood up for themselves and patiently expressed the actual state of race relations on this campus should be commended for standing up for justice. Only those who would support institutionalized racism, would chastise students asking questions to those in power about how they are going to handle the very real issues of hate crimes, segregation, and faculty retention that are the root of unhappiness at this university. Only those with a vested interest in supporting the status quo could fail to see the importance of speaking up when you are wronged.
Personally, there are three main changes that I would like to see in this university. First of all, there needs to be a real effort on the part of the police and administration to find the perpetrators of hate crimes and hold them responsible for their action. I suggest that a reward be offered for information leading to the arrest of any person who commits a hate crime on this campus. The president and the deans have discretionary funds and so do the senate president and treasurer. I challenge them to set aside part of their funds in order to finance such an undertaking. Secondly, I believe that our trustees, who deal with issues of tenure, and the deans and departments that deal with hiring should immediately begin hiring faculty of color at an unprecedented rate. Third, the hateful attacks based on a person's race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity or disability must come to a stop, whether they be in print or simply spoken. These attacks serve no legitimate purpose in either political debate or in education. They are not the expression of political beliefs or ideas that should be protected, but rather manifestations of fear and hatred that serve to degrade. If the Primary Source or others at the University are unable to control themselves and they feel as though they must be racist, sexist, or homophobic in their "humor," then they should be stripped of their University funding and denied the right to use our University's name in their title.
Lastly, I would like to make a call for coalition building. While it is clear that many of the people who attended the Dewick luncheon were in agreement on the issues and also on tactics, there are others, like myself, who do not fall into that category. I would like to see a broad-based, inclusive coalition that supports a diversity of tactics come together in order to work on this problem. It is only through uniting people with similar goals that we may be successful. If we divide ourselves we will fail, but if we stand united we cannot lose.
Adam Carlis is a junior majoring in peace and justice studies and political science.
