Yesterday, Harvard University announced that it has set up a fund to fund research, education, and memory projects on racism and slavery from the 17th to 19th centuries in the United States. The goal is to “repair” the slave’s memory in the country after a report showed that the institution had contributed to confirming racist theses in the past.
The announcement was made by the university’s president, Lawrence Bacow, in a letter addressed to the students, professors, and staff of the institution that was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1636, in the United States.
The initiative is part of the country’s movement to recognize and repair slavery, which has gained strength in the university environment in recent years. In December 1865, slavery was officially abolished with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. “Slavery and its legacy have been part of American history for over 400 years. The years to come,” Bacow declared.
The decision was announced after the release of a university committee report that recommended recommendations to financially “compensate” for the exploitation of millions of people who were forcibly deported from Africa and Europe to the Americas.
The document shows, for example, that until the 20th century, university rectors and professors taught and promoted racial theories such as eugenics, a practice that advocated the “improvement” of the human race through genetic selection. At Harvard in the 17th and 18th centuries, various members and presidents enslaved more than 70 people until the practice was outlawed in Massachusetts in 1783.
Institutional protected eugenics theses
As an example of what happened at the institution, American Tamara Lanier, who claimed to be descended from slaves in 2019, sued the university in 1850 for taking pictures of her family members. The images were used by the famous biologist Louis Agassiz (1807-1873), known for his work on polar ice caps, as well as for his racist theories aimed at proving white supremacy.
According to Tamara Lanier, her ancestors known as Renty and Delia would be forced to pose nude for an Agassiz project. He says the professor’s goal is to prove that black people are biologically inferior. “Harvard took advantage of and somehow perpetuated deeply immoral practices,” said the institution’s president. He acknowledged that the university had a “moral responsibility” to fund research projects that would help reduce the harmful social and personal impacts posed by such practices.
Other institutions also joined the initiative
Racism is inherent in American society, and its consequences are obvious, as demonstrated, for example, by the Black Lives Matter movement, which gained greater visibility after the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis.
In addition to Harvard, other institutions have made similar attempts to “pay off” their historic debts related to slavery. Last year, leaders of the Jesuit priests conference advocated for the allocation of US$100 million in compensation to the descendants of slaves owned by the order.
In 2019, students at Georgetown University approved a fund to benefit the descendants of slaves sold by the elite Jesuit school in the 19th century. Brown and Columbia universities also admitted to participating in the slave trade.
(RFI and AFP)
source: Noticias
