A discussion long overdue

Why devote two weeks to the subject of race?

Because it is one of the most difficult issues we face as a society, and as a university. Because long after the trustees decide where to build the sixth residential college and the state decides whether to construct the Millstone Bypass, interracial pairs of roommates will still stay up all night trying to bridge an impasse of culture and race that generations of their forebearers have failed to cross.

Whether they succeed is perhaps less important than whether they try. And as a community, we have not been trying hard enough.

We cannot, for better or for worse, gather together on a common room couch the several thousand members of Princeton's extended family — students, professors, staff, parents and alumni — for a late-night discussion of race.

The best we can do is write about it.

Today's Daily Princetonian offers the first part of a 10-day series titled, "Race at Princeton, Day by Day." In addition to news articles — such as today's front page story about an interracial couple — the series will include a number of special editorial pages, an edition of Access Arts on race and the arts at Princeton and a special issue of The Prince Magazine.

Like this summer's New York Times series on race in America — on which our series is modeled — the news articles that make up the core of "Race at Princeton, Day by Day" are about individuals, not trends. We conceived this series not to expose racism, but rather to create a portrait of how race affects the lives of Princetonians on a daily basis. And we therefore hope that readers will not judge the characters in these stories, even as they mull over the difficult issues their actions raise.

Too often at Princeton, we fail to talk about race in ways that are honest or meaningful. But that should not allow us to lose sight of the importance of race in the daily lives of all Princetonians. Race matters at Princeton in ways that are profound and mundane. It matters in ways that are painful and uplifting. It matters more than most of us would be willing to acknowledge.

But acknowledge it we should. And if nothing else, that is what we hope to achieve with this series.

We would like to thank those individuals who were willing to share their stories with our writers, as well as those who will be sharing their stories in first-person accounts in various sections of the newspaper during the next two weeks.

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While we did our best to cover as broadly as possible the issue of race on Princeton's campus, there are obviously numerous stories that we have left untold. We therefore encourage readers to write to us and address some of the issues we have neglected — and we have reserved considerable space on this page during the next two weeks to air these comments.

Why devote two weeks to the subject of race?

Because this newspaper is — among other things — the University's collective common room, and it is time for the late-night discussion to begin. — Michael Hochman '01 Editor, "Race at Princeton, Day by Day" — Richard Just '01 124th Editor-in-Chief, The Daily Princetonian