The university’s attempt to reconcile with its past is described in detail in a report entitled “Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery”, which documents how the slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries was a vital part of New England’s economy and a powerful forms Harvard University. “
It was embedded in the fabric and institutions of the North and remained legal in Massachusetts until the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional in 1783.
Bakou said slavery and racism have played a significant role in Harvard’s institutional history, and enslaved people have worked on campus and supported students, faculty, staff and university presidents. Their work “enriched many donors and ultimately the institution.”
For nearly 150 years, from the founding of the university in 1636 to the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts, the presidents of Harvard and others enslaved more than 70 people, according to a report listing the names of some in an appendix.
“The enslaved men and women served Harvard presidents and professors and fed and cared for Harvard students,” the report said.
The university and its donors benefited from the slave trade in the 19th century, the report said.
“These lucrative financial relationships included, above all, the charity of donors who amassed wealth through the slave trade; from the labor of enslaved people on plantations in the Caribbean and the American South; and from the northern textile industry, supplied with cotton grown by enslaved people in slavery. “
The report said Harvard’s financial investments included “loans to Caribbean sugar factories, rum distillers and plantation suppliers, along with investments in cotton production.”
University presidents and professors also promoted “racial science” and eugenics, and conducted abusive “research” on enslaved people, the report said.
“I believe we have a moral responsibility to do what we can to deal with the enduring corrosive effects of these historical practices on individuals, on Harvard, and on our society,” the university president wrote.
Dennis Lloyd, 74, a real estate developer who divides his time between Massachusetts and Georgia, is a descendant of Cuba Vassal, a woman born in Antigua and enslaved by the family of Isaac Royal Sr. A donation from Royal’s son in the late 18th century funded the first law professor at Harvard. The Royal family has a sugar plantation in Antigua and moved to Medford, Massachusetts, after a planned slave revolt. They brought with them several slaves.
“I think this is a step in the right direction,” Lloyd told CNN on Tuesday, calling the Harvard plan an opportunity to promote a better understanding of a story that was lost … and stolen from African Americans as a result of slavery. . ”
The report includes recommendations for restoring this heritage “through teaching, research and services” and a $ 100 million commitment to a fund for the heritage of slavery.
“Some of these funds will be available for ongoing use, while the rest will be donated to support this work over time,” Bakou said.
The fund is designed to support the implementation of the report’s recommendations, including expanding educational opportunities for the descendants of enslaved people in the southern United States and the Caribbean, establishing partnerships with historic black colleges and universities (HBCU), and identifying and building relationships with direct descendants. of enslaved people who worked at Harvard.
The report says the fund means recognition by the university of “wrongdoing and responsibility for undertaking a lengthy renovation process: financial costs are a necessary predicate and basis for compensation”.
Lloyd, a graduate of Howard University, praised Ivy League’s promise to provide financial and educational support to the direct descendants of enslaved people and his oath to build ties with the HBCU.
“Harvard’s resources and pockets are very deep,” said Lloyd, a Vietnam War veteran. “Let’s see how everything will be realized.
Harvard’s announcement comes as other universities across the country try to enforce their complicity in slavery.
“As long as Harvard is not solely responsible for these injustices, and as long as many members of our community have worked hard to counter them, Harvard is taking advantage of and in some ways maintaining practices that are deeply immoral,” Bakou said.
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