If you walk through Wasserstein Hall of Harvard’s law school, you will notice that framed portraits of the school’s esteemed professors adorn the walls.
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While critics shook off the defaced portraits because of the limited physical damage, the use of the tape is actually more pernicious than it seems.
Black strips of tape were placed diagonally over at least five photo portraits, Harvard officials said.
The Atlantic reports many students believe the tape is a response to protests on campus on Wednesday and a recent student campaign to change the crest of Harvard Law School, which is a seal of the family of Isaac Royall Jr.
An investigation is “active and ongoing”, the Harvard police said of the episode that had raised the specter of a hate crime at an institution that educated Barack Obama, as well as six current Supreme Court justices.
The “saddened and angered” dean of Harvard Law School says university police are “investigating the incident as a hate crime”.
The Harvard Crimson reported that at the Thursday meeting, Minow said: ‘Racism exists in America and in the United States and in Harvard and in Harvard Law School’.
The black electrical tape found on the portraits Thursday was described by a few black students as a display of racism. At the meeting, dean Martha L. Minow admitted that racism was a “serious problem” on the campus. All faculty of color woke up to the same thing this morning. “The defacing of the portraits of black professors this morning is a further reminder that white supremacy built this place, is the foundation of this place, and that we never have and still do not belong here”. Determined to assert their voices on campus, students who were outraged about portraits went back and decorated them with post-its celebrating the professors. “I am so proud of the students for reacting with love and kindness, for showing leadership, and for valuing inclusion”.
At Columbia University, activist group Students against Mass Incarceration, in conjunction with Black Lives Matter, succeeded this summer in convincing the university to divest from private prisons.
“We see these instances happening on other campuses and we think to ourselves, “This does not impact us here at Harvard”, she said”.
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Physical symbols are an expression of who we are and what we value as a community.
