Feedback: Readers Weigh In on Ibram X. Kendi, Howard Zinn, and the BU of the 1970s
Feedback: Readers Weigh In on Ibram X. Kendi, Howard Zinn, and the BU of the 1970s
Is “Alright” All Right? Or All Wrong?
Editor’s Note
Here at Bostonia, we love hearing from our readers—and we heard from a lot of you when the summer issue landed in homes. Readers expressed shock, surprise—even horror—at our spelling of “Alright” on the cover (“The Kids Are [Stressed, Anxious, Lonely, Struggling, Learning, Grateful, Adapting] Alright”).
“Imagine my dismay when my alumna magazine used a grammatically incorrect form on both the cover and within the magazine,” wrote one alum. “‘Alright’ is not ‘all right.’”
Rest assured, we know our grammar. The headline was a playful riff on the title of a popular soundtrack rock album by The Who, for the band’s 1979 documentary, The Kids Are Alright. And, to those who said “alright” is not even a word, well, it’s right there in Merriam-Webster, the University’s dictionary of choice.
Thanks again to everyone who wrote. Please keep your feedback coming!
Praise for an Engaging Article
As a BU alum, I enjoy reading Bostonia magazine. As an educator for over 40 years, I found the cover story about the effects of the pandemic on children and families so well written and researched (“The Kids Are [Stressed, Anxious, Lonely, Struggling, Learning, Grateful, Adapting] Alright,” Summer 2021). It provided a window into the day-to-day life that so many of us were experiencing in our own families. Please pass on my thanks to Eric Moskowitz for presenting a thoughtful and engaging article.
Rick Wilson (CFA’77)
Readfield, Maine
Divisive Beliefs?
As a BU alumnus, I wish to add my concern to that recently expressed by H. Robb Levinsky, in the Winter–Spring 2021 issue, regarding what he considers to be the University’s “full-throated embrace” of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s “antiracist” beliefs (Feedback). I have read Dr. Kendi’s book, How to Be an Antiracist. Notwithstanding its title, I suggest that it sets forth a decidedly different view, cleverly concealed under the guise of “research” and “scholarship.” I am amazed that the University was not able to see through this charade before so fully accepting Dr. Kendi’s divisive beliefs.
Recall that BU’s most revered alumnus, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (GRS’55, Hon.’59), dreamed of a day when his children “would one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Dr. Kendi’s “antiracist” screed, however, turns Dr. King’s dream upside down. I refuse to be judged by Dr. Kendi’s “negative and angry worldview,” as correctly noted by Mr. Levinsky.
Unquestionably, Dr. King had it right. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that; hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” Dr. Kendi, however, chooses darkness over light. He writes, “The only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination. The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.” Thus, his solution to racism and racial discrimination is even more racism and racial discrimination? The absurdity of this notion boggles the mind. Is such divisiveness really what BU wants to support? BU needs to conduct a thorough reexamination of its position promoting Dr. Kendi’s “antiracism” program. It will require courage to do so. Hopefully, it is not too late.
Anthony M. Santoro (DGE’69, CAS’71)
Medford, Mass.
I was taken aback by David Carroll’s gratuitous swipe at Howard Zinn in his otherwise supportive comments on Ibram Kendi (Feedback, Winter–Spring 2021). Howard Zinn made my stay at BU worthwhile. He taught that disobedience in the face of injustice was righteous, that peaceful protest against war and bigotry of all kinds was the duty of a concerned citizenry, and that activism in the service of peace, human rights, and civil rights could not be disentangled from scholarly integrity. He practiced what he preached. He would not have advocated for bomb scares. To write, as Mr. Carroll does, that a bomb scare was committed by “Howard Zinn’s communist zealots” shows a profound misunderstanding of Howard’s teachings. It attributes, without merit, the acts of others to him and slanders a professor who inspired me and countless others to be lifelong activists in the service of ideals aligned with those of Ibram Kendi and, it seems, those of Mr. Carroll, as well.
Gene Fellner (DGE’72, CAS’74)
Jersey City, N.J.
When BU Was More Opponent Than Ally
Catching up with the Winter–Spring magazine’s “Rising Up.” I enjoyed reading about what student activists are passionate about today.
I must take issue, however, with your introduction, especially the statement by Charles Henebry: “Today’s activists treat the University as an ally, not an opponent.” I was a BU graduate student during the 1970s campus protests. He, and you, left out half the story. John Silber’s administration was no ally. I witnessed the Boston Tactical Police Force (TPF), called out by Silber, march down Bay State Road, beat military draft protesters with huge clubs, and drag both men and women by their hair to waiting vans. The BU administration was violent. I also recall faculty union protests in front of Marsh Chapel, with BU administration employees photographing protesters.
Jo Sullivan (GRS’72,’78)
Lynn, Mass.
School Designations Confusing
The University’s retroactive use of the new designations for renamed schools and colleges is becoming increasingly problematic. The summer issue refers to alumni of Questrom as far back as the 1940s. But how can they be said to have graduated from a school that did not exist at the time of their graduation? Even more confusing, you are referring to School of Education alumni as Wheelock, giving the appearance that they went not to Boston University, but rather Wheelock College—a school that did exist at the time of their graduation, but that they did not attend. There must be a better way.
James S. Brust (MED’68)
San Pedro, Calif.
A Proud Alum
I am also a BU alum (in ’80s) living in Melbourne, Australia, and am so proud that “our University” has educated the first woman to direct NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Fay Oberklaid (GRS’79, Wheelock’80)
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