A White Man’s Voice: The Role of the Privileged Actor
The Crimson | Ian D. Svetkey ‘25
In this op-ed, a Harvard student, self-identified as “a straight, cisgender, white man from an upper-middle-class family…who come[s] from an awful lot of privilege,” is concerned that “a professor of a class about narratives of individuals who were enslaved was a white man.” He asks, “Why would a class about stories integral to Black culture be taught by someone with no lived experience in that culture?… I’m sure the white professors teaching about Black history are knowledgeable. But that doesn’t mean they should be the ones teaching those classes.”
He goes on to say that “regardless of how qualified white professors are, I really don’t think they should be teaching classes explicitly focused on the experiences of other racial or ethnic groups.” As such, he argues that “Harvard should hire more minority faculty in every department — diverse scholars shouldn’t be pigeonholed into studying only their own cultural history.”
The student does not want credit for his piece or rewards for his work —”Of course, being an ally does not absolve me of privilege… I’m also aware that I shouldn’t congratulate myself for standing up — applauding allies for decrying bigotry, while not doing the same for marginalized people, is itself a subtle form of discrimination. I shouldn’t be rewarded twice as much for working half as hard.”
