Harvard police are investigating the incident but declined to comment.
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Black slashes of tape appeared across the portraits of a few African-American professors at Harvard Law School on Thursday morning, outraging students and faculty members and touching off a day of discussion about racial injustice at the school.
Harvard University police are treating the discovery of strips of tape placed across photographs of black professors outside of a lecture hall as an act of hate, officials from the university said Thursday. Students had held a rally the day before in support of demonstrations across the country against racism on college campuses.
Information from Harvard’s official website described the portraits as being a part of a long-standing tradition at the school. These included the BlackOut protest vigil in the Kresge courtyard attended by students, faculty and staff; the unfurling of three new flags in the Huntington Avenue entrance to our building representing our commitment to respect and celebrate all members of our community regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity; and the Discrimination Monologues event in the evening at which many in our community spoke powerfully about their personal experiences with discrimination. Only black professors had their faces covered in tape. There have been a wide range of reactions at Harvard Law in light of the incident, from shock to horror to (most depressingly) a lack of surprise.
“I was shocked to see portraits of black faculty members defaced today in an apparent response to the peaceful protest organized by Harvard’s black students on yesterday”, said Dr. Ronald Sullivan Jr., who is the director of the Harvard Criminal Justice Institute. This is merely a symptom of the greater systemic racism that now permeates this law school and legal institutions in general. “I am so proud of the students for reacting with love and kindness, for showing leadership, and for valuing inclusion”. Students gave speeches, sang songs and marched from the Harvard campus to Porter Square.
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Meanwhile, a group of Harvard law students are calling for the faculty to drop their official shield, which they say honors a family who made their fortune through slavery. She also reminded the community that Harvard’s focus is to improve the community and finding opportunities wherein the university can both change and support change.
