Princeton considers dropping Woodrow Wilson name after protests

Quetzal

Quetzal

New member
Princeton University students have urged school officials to rename programmes and buildings named for former US President Woodrow Wilson because of his views on race relations.

University President Christopher Eisgruber has agreed to consider their demands after protests.

The School of Public and International Affairs and a dormitory at the Ivy League university are named for Wilson.

As US president, he led progressive initiatives but supported segregation.

Mr Eisgruber said he was thankful for the "willingness of the students to work with us to find a way forward".

Racial segregation, which mostly took place in Southern US states, was legal policy during his presidency from 1913 to 1921.
Click to expand...
More here...

Thoughts?
 
Granite

Granite

New member
Hall of Fame
Well...

Even by the standards of his day, Wilson was a pretty despicable racist. What makes this really amusing is that the folks most inclined to oppose this activism likely detest his politics. Curious bedfellows!
 
Angel4Truth

Angel4Truth

New member
Hall of Fame
Quetzal said:
Actually, I take up the opposite end. By bringing this aspect of his presidency into the light, it makes for a more accurate history of his tenure. Not a whitewashing.
Click to expand...

Removing a building named for him, doesnt take away from any accomplishments that led to it being named that way?

What if it was donated and paid for by someone who wanted it named that way, thats ok to change?
 
Angel4Truth

Angel4Truth

New member
Hall of Fame
Hey, lets get rid of the constitution, since some of the signers and founders of it, owned slaves or had a pro slavery position! Right?
 
Nick M

Nick M

Black Rifles Matter
LIFETIME MEMBER
Hall of Fame
He is a known bigot liberal. Unlike most of the left, he doesn't hide it. Good for Princeton, I would not have known they do it right. Unless they are trying to make this a "white" issue and not the liberal one it is.
 
G

Greg Jennings

New member
Quetzal said:
More here...

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

This is stupid. Are we going to remove Washington from the dollar bill because he owned slaves next?

People need to grow up and realize that the world wasn't always as it is now, and that the rules were different then. Wilson did nothing that he saw as offensive, and had no way to know how the country would change in the future
 
Angel4Truth

Angel4Truth

New member
Hall of Fame
Greg Jennings said:
This is stupid. Are we going to remove Washington from the dollar bill because he owned slaves next?

People need to grow up and realize that the world wasn't always as it is now, and that the rules were different then. Wilson did nothing that he saw as offensive, and had no way to know how the country would change in the future
Click to expand...

:thumb:
 
Granite

Granite

New member
Hall of Fame
kmoney said:
Stupid. If the building was named after Wilson because of his views on race then maybe, but I'm doubting that's the case.
Click to expand...

Well that's the question--do we take the whole man (any man, not just Woodrow) part and parcel, or do we pick and choose his legacy?

Frankly if Princeton wants to honor an alum that's their business--these glad-handing Ivy League types are clubby and inbred and can do as they please--but when it's a president, like it or not, everything with his name on it becomes high profile and potentially contentious by nature.

I don't really know what we're honoring, though, with Wilson's legacy. League of Nations? Vicious racism? World War I? Income tax?

I mean, if that's your particular cup of tea, knock yourself out.
 
G

Greg Jennings

New member
Granite said:
Well that's the question--do we take the whole man (any man, not just Woodrow) part and parcel, or do we pick and choose his legacy?

Frankly if Princeton wants to honor an alum that's their business--these glad-handing Ivy League types are clubby and inbred and can do as they please--but when it's a president, like it or not, everything with his name on it becomes high profile and potentially contentious by nature.

I don't really know what we're honoring, though, with Wilson's legacy. League of Nations? Vicious racism? World War I? Income tax?

I mean, if that's your particular cup of tea, knock yourself out.
Click to expand...

He's honored because he was president of our country, even if he wasn't a great one. Everybody was racist back then. If we're going to take honor from people because they were racist in the early 20th century, then you won't have anyone left to honor. Times change, and with them, values.

Side note: Abraham Lincoln was racist, and he's a civil rights hero.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top