GOLDWIN SMITH HALL–Last Tuesday, students in Professor Stephen Winslow’s Intro to Ethics and Philosophy class were debating the merits of DuBois’ double-consciousness theory during an 11:00 AM discussion section when a comment from one student raised some eyebrows.
The student, Sheldon Morestead ‘28, was commenting on the black struggle in America when he uttered a questionable remark: “There are plenty of people in this country who combat racism to get ahead. Some of us in this room had to go through a lot just to end up at Cornell, including me! I overcame a lot of diversity to be here!” A brief, awkward yet palpable silence filled the room, after which Winslow steered the discussion towards Kantian ethics.
Morestead, an aggressively caucasian male, insists his comment was a slip of the tongue. “I obviously meant to say ‘adversity’. I mean, come on, do you really think I would say something racist?” Despite this, however, many students in the room remain mildly disturbed by Morestead’s words. Laila Chen ‘28 is still skeptical about the remark. “I think it was some kind of Freudian slip,” Chen suggested. “All semester, he’s been talking about how ‘other groups’ in America are just as oppressed as people of color. Also, I’m not even sure what ‘adversity’ he’s talking about. I heard his family donated like $5 million to get him into Cornell. Apparently he had a 2.1 GPA in high school.”
Sources confirmed that for his final essay in the class, Morestead is writing an essay entitled “The Hardest Journey” about his family’s yearly trek from their estate in Cape Cod to their vacation home in Beverly Hills.
