Word: mansfield
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Past Levenson winners have included Kenan Professor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield '53, Baird Professor of Science Dudley R. Herschbach and Williams Professor of History and Political Science Roderick F. MacFarquhar
...April 8, 1996, Kenan Professor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield Jr. '53 published an article in The Crimson ("A Poor Defense of Diversity") which argued that Harvard is suffering from a lack of morale because of the stubborn intellectual inferiority blacks exhibit. While not openly stating that black inferiority was inherent, he insinuated that unchangeable biological reasons were behind what he saw as the less-than-stellar achievements among Harvard's African-American students. Sadly, Mansfield's article is in line with today's racist tactics. Posing as learned men, many of today's leading academics preach the inferiority...
...supposed" motivation behind past academic racism and present-day scholarly racial prejudice remains the same: protecting the United States (i.e., white Americans and some Asian groups) from the degenerate effects which would stem or have stemmed from letting blacks and Latinos into the body politic and social contract. Mansfield, Herrnstein, Murray and D'Souza argue that the academic rigors of society and Americans' competitiveness is decreasing because of the large number of undesirables and unqualifieds entering universities and jobs all around the country at the expense of bright whites and Asians. The argument reminds one of the segregationist platform...
...used to grab the attention of readers, and they may have begun to lose their power. One can hardly turn the pages of a newspaper without seeing several headlines concerning race. President Neil L. Rudenstine's annual report was about diversity at Harvard, Kenan Professor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield Jr. '53 is in the news about his views on blacks at Harvard, "Diversity and Distinction" is a monthly campus publication, and since the O.J. Simpson murder trial, race and justice (or the lack of it) have become inextricably linked words. In many ways, of course, the omnipresence of racial...
...Mansfield certainly deserves condemnation; but Rudenstine should not be allowed to escape a profound skepticism over the sincerity and consistency of the University's ostensible commitment to diversity. It is fair for Harvard students to hold their president to a high standard. It is fair for them to expect a certain level of candor and introspection when what is arguably America's top university issues so public a statement. It is fair to expect that Rudenstine, an English professor, be more probing and more honest than the glossy admissions and fundraising brochures the university produces in such high quantities...