Letter From Mom: Stop Racial Profiling My Honors Student Son

I feel compelled to react to the arrest of Harvard Professor, Dr. Henry Louis Gates by the Cambridge Police. Unfortunately, I am not surprised. I received my Ph.D. from Harvard and during my years of graduate study, I found Harvard and its surroundings to the most racially hostile environment of my young life, though I grew up in South Central Los Angeles. Police and merchants openly exhibited racist attitudes towards me, as did many Harvard faculty members I encountered in my studies in Comparative Literature. Granted, that was several years before Dr. Gates’ arrival at Harvard. I had hoped that his presence and influence in the community, as well as progress on racial issues generally, meant that Harvard and its environs had changed.  Apparently, not quite.

Dr. Gates’ experience is lived daily by African Americans, especially African American males of all ages and levels of society. Unfortunately I was compelled to write the letter below to another prominent university, one which I love. The letter is dated October 3, 2007.

Dear Vice Provost Boardman and Dean Barker:

As you may know, my son, Osprey Brown, is a senior Philosophy major, 
who is writing an Honors Thesis and has also been accepted to the  
co-terminal program in the Philosophy Department to earn his Masters 
degree. Dean Barker, I last heard from you in the Spring, when you  
invited my family to celebrate Osprey’s earning the Dean’s Award for 
Academic Excellence. Osprey has also been working for the Housing  
Office for more two years and has been a member of Mariachi Cardenal 
since his freshman year. In my mind, Osprey’s is a  
true Stanford success story; my family and I are delighted.

Unfortunately, I must relate to you an incident which so upset
Osprey that he asked me to intervene. Last Thursday evening,  
September 27, 2007, on Senior Pub Night, Osprey encountered one of  
his house mates, *********, a caucasian woman, walking back  
to [their dorm] alone. Osprey accompanied her so she would not 
have to walk alone and saw her to her room. As Osprey was leaving  
[their dorm] to return to [another dorm] to visit a friend, he was  
accosted by several members of campus security. They apparently  
insinuated or accused him of accosting or molesting ********* in some  
way and required him to take them to her room, purportedly to ensure 
that she was well. He did so, and she confirmed that Osprey had  
accompanied her home. They nevertheless continued to claim that  
they had received a report that a student was being accosted by a  
black man.

Most troublesome, the security personnel never asked to see Osprey’s 
student ID or any identification. Further, Osprey had to use his 
key to go back into the dorm to find *********, plainly signaling that 
he lived there and belonged there. Because of this, I can only  
conclude that the purpose of this entire humiliating ritual had  
little to do with ensuring ********* ‘s safety, and was intended to be   nothing more than racial harassment of a black male Stanford student.

Osprey is incredulous, discouraged and intensely distressed, having  
been violated, harassed and embarrassed in his own home. As a  
mother, a Stanford parent, a Stanford alumna and an attorney, words  
cannot adequately express the level of my outrage – and heartbreak  
- that Osprey’s act of kindness, of which I am quite proud, was  
repaid in this way. He behaved with dignity and kindness, like the  
fine human being he has proven himself to be, and was treated like a 
criminal — in 2007— at Stanford.

This is not something that can be allowed to exist and persist at  
Stanford. I would like to know how Stanford will address this  
situation and redress the harm that has been done to Osprey,  
an exemplary young person who is an African American male Stanford  
Student. I hope that Stanford’s actions in addressing and resolving 
this matter will obviate the need for any further action on 
Osprey’s behalf.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Katherine Wallace
Stanford ’78

Katherine T. Wallace, Ph.D.
Attorney

To its credit, Stanford hired an independent investigator to look into the matter. To the credit of my amazing son, he used the incident to inspire his Honors Thesis, which is an argument for racial eliminativism, exploring the works of W.E.B. Du Bois and K.A. Appiah. Plainly, the conversation is not over.