Breakdown:

1. Introduction – Harvard’s Wealth and Its Ties to Slavery:
   • Harvard University, the wealthiest university in the world with a $50 billion endowment, owes much of its early success to the transatlantic slave trade.
   • From its founding in 1636, early donors, board members, and faculty were deeply involved in slavery, with enslaved Black and Indigenous people working on campus.
2. Harvard’s Role in Promoting Eugenics:
   • In the 1800s and 1900s, Harvard professors actively promoted eugenics, a pseudoscience that claimed poverty and racial inequality were products of genetics.
   • Harvard’s scholars perpetuated the idea of white racial superiority, ignoring the legacy of slavery as the root cause of wealth inequality and racial injustice.
3. The Impact of Harvard’s Theories on Society:
   • Theories developed at Harvard fueled racial discrimination, such as the sterilization of Black women and the criminalization of Black men.
   • Harvard’s intellectual output empowered racist policies that had devastating consequences across the country, extending far beyond the classroom.
4. Harvard’s Continued Profiting from Slavery Post-Emancipation:
   • Even after slavery was abolished, Harvard continued to benefit from the wealth generated by slavery.
   • Many of the donors who contributed to Harvard’s endowment were individuals or families who profited from slavery, parking their wealth at the university.
5. The Irony of Affirmative Action’s Repeal:
   • In 2023, the Supreme Court banned affirmative action in admissions, a policy that had increased Black student enrollment at Harvard.
   • Despite Harvard’s historical ties to slavery, the descendants of slave owners and eugenicists now have a better chance of getting into Harvard than the descendants of those who built the institution.
6. Conclusion – Harvard’s Complicated Legacy:
   • Despite the university’s wealth and prestige, Harvard’s history is deeply intertwined with slavery, racism, and injustice.
   • The removal of affirmative action raises questions about whether the institution is truly committed to addressing its legacy of inequality.