You are on page 1of 2

Ti,e Hellry A.

MllrfllY 1',5ellr,II Celli a: /1 C"iler [ur tile Stlldy of Lives

IIpril28, 1989

Profe660r Je.e6 Lin


Depert~ent of Methe~etic6. C012
Univer6ity of Celifornie. Sen Diego
Sen Diego. CII92093
Dear Jim,
After cereful thought. I heve decided to withdrew .y cendidecy for the
p06ition in A6ien A~ericen 6tudie6. I do 60 with regret. heving greet re6pect
for you end Cecil. the feculty in Chiceno end Afro-A.ericen Studies. end the
di6tinguished .e~bers of the recruit.ent coittee. It weS your collective
or
effort, with the 6upport of other concerned feculty, thet convinced Chencell
Atkinson to forwerd .y file end thet of Micheel O.i to the Acede.ic Per60nnel
Co.~ittee despite the negetive ection of the Sociology Depert.ent.
However. I feel I could not work effectively in e plece where .e.bers of my
own discipline of 60ciology ellow bletent recis~ to go unchecked. I heve
concluded thet there weS never eny intention, et leest on the cheir's pert,
for sociology to give serious consider~tion to any qu~lified Asi~n Americen
cendidete.
This conclusion is besed on the following: 1) The depertment
declined to interview Micheel Omi, en obviously quelified c~ndidete, the coeuthor of e widely heiled book ebout rece end recism in A~erice. 2) The chair
stated during .y interview that his department waS not interested in
developing any expertise in such a "narrow topic as race and ethnicity. 3)
Exa.ination of .y scholerly work waS cursory, li~ited to debate about the
merits of my book, Issei, Nisei, Warbride, with no review of My two dozen or
so publicetions on 6uch topics as the sociology of work, technology. family,
end co.paretive 6tudies of gender end rece.
4) The depart~ent eS e whole
never even voted on .y cendidecy.
The cheir, Andrew Scull, hes of course refused to disclose the nature of the
department's ections, invoking the "confidentielity of hiring procedures."
"Confidentielity" as ecedeme'6 equivelent of the "netional security"
or
"officiel secrets" invoked by governments. including the South Africen regi~e,
to clock ections thet would not stend up to the light of day.
It is
significent thet court6, recognizing that 6ecret procedures ere often 6creens
for discri~inetory
prectices. ere
reJecting confidentielity
plees of
defendants

in cco.de~icdiscri~inQtion 6uits*

My identity es e sociologi6t i6 i~portant to me. I heve teught in sociology


depertment6 for 17 yeers.
I have held elective office6 in the two ~ein
icel
netionel 60ciologic~1 orgenizations, the Americ~n Sociolog
Associetion
(ASA) end the Society for the Study of Social Problem6 (SSSP), MOSt recently
es vice-pre6ident-elect of the letter. The senior member6 of my depertment at
Stete University of New York et Binghamton re6pect the 60rt of work I do end
recognize ~y contribution6 to sociology. even though their intere6t6 in world
. DO NOT DUPLICATE
Far research use anly per Title 17 IUCS 107-108) _ Special Collections

& Archives, University

of California, San Diego

DO NOT DUPLICATE
For research use only per Title 17 (UGS 107 108) _ Special Collections & Archives, University of California, San Diego

historical studies are quite different froM My own.


These include such
distinguished scholars as Terence Hopkins, Mark Selden, JaMes Petras, IMManual
Wallerstein, and Joan SMith.
Their ability to appreciate scholarship that
does not fall within their own areas of expertise bespeaks an intellectual
openness that I value. The case is put eloquently in a recent letter written
for My file at UC-Berkeley. which I enclose for your information.
I see no
reason to accept a situation where I am accorded any less respect by
colleagues in sociology.
Currently I have other attractive possibilities, including reMaining at
BinghaMton.
The recoMMendation for my appointment as full professor at U.C.
Berkeley has been forwarded to their budget commitee with unanimous votes,
endorseMents, and individual letters of support frOM faculty and students in
Ethnic Studies and ~o.en's Studies, and Sociology.
I was recently
interviewed for the position of Director of the Center for the Study of Race
and Ethnicity in America at Brown University. a position which would carry an
appointment as Professor of Sociology and/or American Civilization.
I stayed the course this far because raciSM and sexism must be fought whenever
and wherever they occur; it is also important to establish the principle that
a departMent's veto should not be allowed to block the entrance of qualified
racial ethnic faculty into the university.
Even if a sociologist gets appointed independently to Ethnic Studies, the
exclusion of faculty of color from mainstream departments, such as sociology.
needs to be addressed. Race and racism have been central topics throughout the
history of AMerican sociology. Their current prominence is highlighted in the
election of a black sociologist. ~illiam J. ~ilson, a nationally renowned
scholar on the
black underclass. to the presidency
of the American
Sociological Association.
The time is long past when a social science
departMent located in a maJor urban center with a substantial minority
population can ignore one of the most explosive issues of the day. racial
inequality.
I remain optimistic about the future of Ethnic Studies at UC-San Diego, given
the core of co.mitted faculty.
I am also hopeful that having had their
actions scrutinized will have sensitized some faculty in sociology and spur
them to act affirmatively in the future.

Since.relY,

Z~
~)

}lA.!.Lc"u.-1)

jit"

, - e-rv-r--:

Evelyn Nakano Glenn


York. Binghamton and
Professor of Sociology, State University of New
Radcliffe
College,
Visiting Scholar,
Murray Research
Center.
University

cc , Cecil Lytle

Harvard

You might also like