Jeffrey S. Flier, the former Dean of the Faculty at Harvard Medical School, argued in an op-ed this week that Harvard is making a mistake by removing portraits of influential white doctors from campus for the sake of “diversity.”
Former Harvard Medical School Dean Jeffrey S. Flier published a thoughtful column in the Boston Globe this week on his former institution’s decision to remove portraits of influential doctors because they are all white. Breitbart News reported in June 2018 on Harvard’s decision to remove the paintings.
Flier argued that the men in the portraits don’t deserve the same treatment as generals from the Confederacy that have been honored with statues. The men that were highlighted by the portrait series made significant contributions to medicine and science.
Some wish to judge those who lived at a time when different values prevailed, but this is hardly straightforward. Unlike disputed portraits and statuary related to slavery and the Civil War, these men made contributions to medicine and research that stand up well to current scrutiny. Early in Brigham history, actions of single individuals wouldn’t have diversified the workforce — that required major shifts in societal values. More recent leaders played essential roles in promoting today’s more diverse community.
Flier proposed that Harvard consider rotating older portraits alongside newer works featuring a more diverse group of scientists and doctors.
Perhaps a rotating subset of older portraits displayed alongside newly commissioned works — with the reasons for the choices conveyed in historically informed commentary. As images of women and minorities join those of past leaders, the divide between limited past diversity and the more diverse present would diminish. And importantly, newly configured portraiture could provide an essential lesson: that diversity and inclusion are hard-won victories that should neither be hidden nor taken for granted.
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