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• 1 2019-10-23T18:02:16-04:00 "The White Problem" by Gregory B. Millard 10 An article by a black senior in the 1969 Harvard Yearbook plain 2020-03-17T19:42:33-04:00

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  This is an article written by Gregory B. Millard, a black senior, in the 1969 edition of the Harvard Yearbook. Boldly titling this piece “The White Problem,” Millard writes not to denounce the more outwardly racist whites who oppose the black liberation movements, but instead to expose the hypocrisy and undependability of white liberals and radicals who insert themselves into these movements.

  Millard speaks of the white liberal’s lack of complete commitment to the cause and his tendency to straddle the line between white establishments and black people who demand fairness. He points to a strike that black students had to protest a course as his main example. There, the same white liberal students who had espoused messages of support to black radical efforts on campus admonished black protestors for committing a “violation of [their] academic freedom.” Millard reveals the lack of personal stakes that white people have in matters of black oppression make it that much easier for a “fair weather liberal” to become silent when the movement’s efforts inconvenience his life. Millard also beautifully paints out the tension between the white liberal’s access to resources and connections that could help black efforts for equality and his paternalistic craving to have the final say in all decisions made, showing that, when their power within black liberation groups and their lack of commitment are compounded, white liberals often negotiate lukewarm solutions to black people’s problems because they have their own interests in mind as well.

  Millard has an equal disdain for the white radical, who while being able to see the hypocrisy of the white liberal, also has habits that are overall detrimental to the progression of black radical action. He notes that the white radical has a similar lack of commitment to the black liberation movement, often oscillating shallowly between many different radical movements. His support is never constant, and his involvement in the movement can lead to the dilution of black radical ideas with other radical ideas, slowing down action and energy that should be specifically geared towards black causes. But Millard sees the white radical as equally dangerous if excluded from black radical groups because he can take action in the name of black liberation that actually disrupts or interferes with the action that the groups want to take on themselves.

  These papers are significant because even though Millard’s ideas are broad and apply to the general function of black liberation groups, they are specifically informed by actions and protests happening on campus, as shown by his example of the student protest of the first meeting of a class deemed to be racially inappropriate. At this time, black students were few on Harvard’s campus, and the nation was charged with the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement. White people where simply unavoidable for black students, and their ally-ship was essential in some cases. But even in the most dire of situations, there was still thought put towards what white ally-ship should look like and how white students could best support black liberation causes without putting themselves and their needs at the forefront. This information shows the lineage of the formation of radical thought and radical groups on campus and their interactions with the larger white community. With a largely white liberal population on campus today, it is important to remember that black students have always been cognizant of their white allies' short comings and have time and time again demanded better from their peers.