Editorial: University shouldn’t be punished for past errors

In a recent example of backward logic, a Brown University
committee Wednesday asked the college to make reparations to the
black community because of its involvement in slavery in the 18th
century.

The Committee on Slavery and Justice recommended that Brown
create a memorial, start a center for the study of slavery and
injustice, and increase efforts to recruit minority students
““ especially from Africa and the West Indies.

Any institution should be held accountable for its actions but
only to the extent that reparations can effect real change or make
a meaningful apology.

Brown is currently as responsible for slavery in the
U.S.’s past as Pope Benedict XVI is for the Aztec massacre in
the 1500s ““ in other words, not at all.

The university also has the first black female president of all
the Ivy League universities, proving the college has severed all
ties to its racist past and calling the university’s
reparation efforts into further question.

By the logic of this committee, the Ford Motor Company should
pay reparations to the Anti-Defamation League for Henry
Ford’s anti-Semitic comments in the early 20th century, and
American railroad companies should pay reparations to all Asian
Americans and Irish Americans for taking advantage of their
ancestors in the 19th century.

Anyone at Brown who could have been involved in slavery is long
dead, and current generations should not be held accountable for
their predecessors’ actions.

It would be much more fitting for Brown to focus on the problems
of today rather than getting bogged down in the injustices of the
past.

The proposed center for the study of slavery and injustice
should at least focus on issues that are currently impacting the
global community such as modern slavery, child labor and sexual
trafficking.

It should not be just an organization dedicated to the
documentation of past humanitarian crimes, but should rather look
to the future in an effort to prevent similar atrocities from
happening again.

And for Brown to actively recruit minorities from Africa and the
West Indies does not make sense because most of the descendents of
former slaves are still in the U.S.

This is without mentioning the odd contradiction of speaking out
in the name of equality but at the same time giving preferential
treatment to one minority group over many others.

The committee did not recommend Brown pay outright reparations,
but that was a contentious issue in 2001 when Brown’s student
newspaper, The Brown Daily Herald, printed a full-page ad written
by a conservative outlining 10 arguments against reparations.

Students at Brown responded by protesting and demanding The
Herald pay reparations by donating ad revenue or granting free ad
space to people who advocate reparations.

Such a strong community reaction to an issue with roots 300
years in the past is curious. For Brown to pursue reparations after
it has clearly shown its commitment to moving forward by taking a
black president is unnecessary.

The black community is still undeniably impacted by the echoes
of slavery and segregation, but the proposed actions by Brown seem
superfluous.