ADC Calls on Harvard University to Rescind Decision to Honor Peretz

Washington, DC | www.adc.org | September 24, 2010 -- 

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is dismayed that Harvard University is proceeding with its decision to honor Martin Peretz by creating a research fund in his name despite his long public record of racism. In addition, Harvard has chosen to include Mr. Peretz as part of the program for its 50th anniversary celebration of the Social Studies Program, on Saturday, September 25th, bestowing an additional honor on Mr. Peretz for that occasion. ADC joins the many faculty, students, alumni, staff and other members of the Harvard Community that have opposed extending these honors to Mr. Peretz and have requested that these decisions be rescinded.

ADC notes that in a previous instance, Harvard University reportedly undertook an investigation of allegations of bias against Shaykh Zayed al-Nahyan of the UAE when he made a substantial donation in 2003. That investigation resulted in the termination of the donation in question in 2004. At that time, the Harvard Crimson argued that “no donation is worth indebting the university to practitioners of hate and bigotry.” ADC concurs with this view and calls on Harvard to remain consistent to its own prior record by declining donations connected to bigotry, including any donation creating a fund to be named for Mr. Peretz. Mr. Peretz’s recent public comments that Muslim-Americans are not “worthy” of First Amendment rights and alleging that all Muslims are complicit in “the routine and random bloodshed that defines their brotherhood” are deeply offensive and not worthy of being honored.

These comments are also consistent with Mr. Peretz’s 25-year record of bigoted statements against minority communities in the United States, including African-Americans, Latinos, Arabs and Muslims. This record has been amply documented in recent media coverage and in the open letters addressed by concerned Harvard students and alumni to university officials. Mr. Peretz’s recent effort at a public apology for his comments concerning free speech rights of Muslims only underscores his inability to rise above his own legacy of bigotry. After his original comments were exposed and denounced in the pages of the New York Times and elsewhere, he retracted his statement on the First Amendment while adding insult to injury by reiterating his view that “Muslim life is cheap.” Indeed, he went on to affirm that his observation about the cheapness of Muslim life was “a statement of fact, not value.”

ADC strongly affirms Mr. Peretz’s First Amendment rights, including his right to make bigoted or racist statements. However, neither principles of free speech nor a commitment to academic freedom require a university to bestow honors on an individual who, like Mr. Peretz, has repeatedly made racist statements, deeply offensive to communities worldwide and specifically offensive to members of the university community itself.  ADC calls on Harvard University to rescind its decisions both to honor Mr. Peretz as part of Saturday’s anniversary celebration and to create a research fund in his name.

Contact: adc@adc.org          

202-244-2990

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), which is non-profit, non-sectarian and non-partisan, is the largest grassroots Arab-American civil rights and civil liberties organization in the United States. It was founded in 1980 by former Senator James Abourezk. ADC  has a national network of chapters and members in all 50 states. The ADC Research Institute (ADCRI) is a Section 501(c)(3) educational affiliate.  ADCRI programs include research studies, seminars, conferences and publications that document and analyze the discrimination faced by Arab Americans in the workplace, schools, media, and governmental agencies and institutions. ADC and ADCRI celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Arabs and Arab-Americans.

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) 1732 Wisconsin Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20007 Tel: (202) 244-2990 | Fax: (202) 333-3980 | media@adc.org