Marc Morano, CNSNews.com
Tuesday, April 16, 2002

West, who has worked in Harvard's Afro-American studies department, said his departure was the result of the university picking on the "wrong Negro." West was involved in a dispute in January with Harvard president and former Clinton administration Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who admonished West for a variety of perceived offenses.

Summers accused West of inflating student grades, and criticized West for taking part in the recording of a self-described "hip-hop" CD, for pushing Al Sharpton's presidential campaign and for writing what Summers deemed pop culture books instead of academic books.

An outraged West announced that he felt "attacked and insulted" and would not tolerate "disrespect."

"[Summer's] attack on me was the wrong person, wrong professor and the wrong Negro, as it were. There is a certain level of respect that I require," West said on Monday's "The Tavis Smiley Show" on National Public Radio. West called Summers' criticism an "attack on me" and referred to Summers as "the Ariel Sharon of American higher education," a reference to the hard-line Israel Prime Minister.

"[Summers] acts like a bull in a china shop; he acts like a bully in a very delicate and dangerous situation," West explained to Smiley.

Now, West will shift to Princeton, where he previously taught. Princeton President Shirley M. Tilghman welcomed West's announcement in a statement, calling him "a popular and dedicated teacher during his previous tenure at Princeton," and adding that the school is "pleased that he has decided to return."

At the height of West's dispute with Summers, Jesse Jackson and Sharpton got involved as well. Jackson said the "tension at Harvard is having an impact across the country." And Sharpton threatened a lawsuit against Harvard as "an aggrieved party" because West had been disciplined for his involvement in Sharpton's campaign.

West is the author of a best-selling book, "Race Matters," reviewed by the New York Times as a "compelling blend of philosophy, sociology and political commentary."

According to the Times, "One can only applaud the ferocious moral vision and astute intellect on display in these pages."

West told National Public Radio that, "In a deep sense, I weep for Harvard."

'Intellectual Lightweight'?

West has come under criticism for his teachings, most notably by author David Horowitz, who called West "an incredible intellectual lightweight" who has achieved success only by playing racial politics.

Horowitz, himself an author and former 1960s radical, told CNSNews.com in January that West "got where he got by politics and by playing the race card, which he has played liberally in this conflict.

"I don't believe that Cornel West has ever written a work of serious scholarship," Horowitz added during the interview in January.

Horowitz, the author of "Hating Whitey," a critique of the civil rights establishment, called West a "Marxist" who is cozying up to "anti-Semitic blacks" such as Louis Farrakhan.

He also criticized West for alleging that America had been "niggerized by the terrorist attacks." According to Horowitz, West "means that blacks in America are subject to daily World Trade Center attacks."

"He's a racial demagogue," Horowitz said of West.

Grumbling at Harvard?

Harvard has only 14 designated "university professors," one of whom is West. According to Horowitz, for West to be chosen "one of only 14 out of 2,000 professors, there must be a hell of a lot of grumbling." But Horowitz believes Summers was pressured by the faculty to rein in West.

"Cornel West is extravagantly public in his buffoonery, so it is hard to ignore him," Horowitz stated.

He said the elevation of West to the level of "university professorship" was "a racist joke because he's black. [They] put an idiot into one of Harvard's most distinguished professorships, and no one will say anything."

Horowitz believes racial politics trump competence. He noted that conservative author Thomas Sowell and economist Walter Williams, both of whom Horowitz considers intellectuals, "could not get a job at Harvard."

Horowitz said Summers thought he could confront West because he, Summers, had been a liberal member of the Clinton administration.

Horowitz said Summers should not fear West leaving for Princeton University. "The Harvard [Afro-American studies] department is undoubtedly the best department, but if it lost Cornel West, it would be even better," he said.

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