Tonight, the Afro American Cultural Center at Yale is scheduled to host the poet laureate of New Jersey, Amiri Baraka, for a “tea.” An invitation says, “This is an opportunity to hear this brilliant man speak and your chance to meet the man, and the growing legend in person. It is sure to inspire, provoke and motivate you.” The leaders of Yale’s Jewish student group, Hillel, say they are “appalled” at the invitation. Mr. Baraka became notorious for his poem “Somebody Blew Up America,” which asks, “Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed/ Who told 4000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers/ To stay home that day/ Why did Sharon stay away?” A member of the Afro American Cultural Center — which, of course, has every right to invite speakers it wants — responded to the complaint from the Jewish students by writing, “Ariel Sharon is hate incarnate. Until you go complaining about Ariel Sharon, then your complaints about Amiri Baraka are at best insignificant.” It’s a remarkable thing that while the Jewish undergraduates of Yale understand this kind of language for what it is, there is no sign that a similar comprehension obtains among the adults on the campus.