Letters: Glad to See Wilson’s Legacy Will Be Discussed at Princeton University
To the Editor:
I am glad that the recent demands of the Black Justice League of Princeton have been taken seriously by University President Chris Eisgruber. A resolution has been reached that will provide the institution and the town with an excellent opportunity for discussion and action.
Princeton University is a beacon of learning, but it also has a dark history of discriminating, not just against African Americans, but also against Italian Americans, Jews and women, among other groups.
The idea that Woodrow Wilson’s name should be taken off buildings because of his poor record on civil liberties and civil rights will be explored, as it should be. Investigation and discussion of our American heroes and their feet of clay is well worthwhile. What are the criteria we should use to judge historical figures and how do we tally up the balance sheet of good deeds and bad in deciding to honor them? Is there a justification for negative actions that were “a product of their time”? How should we proceed in creating a democratic and civil society that gives everyone an equal voice and helps assuage the crimes and misdemeanors of our shared past?
These are questions begging for open discussion. All of us could benefit from cultural competency sessions. Many people would be interested in participating in a student-led discussion of freedom of speech. Socratic dialogue is what a university community is all about. If we do not listen, we cannot learn.
Scotia W. MacRae
Princeton
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Why do our progressive fascists stop at Witherspoon and Wilson. Don’t overlook Washington (Road) and Jefferson (Street.) Paul Robeson, as remarkable a man as rber lived, was an unapologetic Stalinist, even after knowing that his fellow communists were persecuting Jews. While you’re at it, the Prince of Orange himself, for whom our town was named, was deeply involved in the slave trade. So, display some of that faux ‘courage” that is so prevalent on the left – let’s examine the past and let the renaming begin!
By the way, the only victims at Princeton University today are high performing Asians, who face systematic and institutional discrimination in the form of stark racial admission preferences. The school knows it, the smug “progressives” know it, but they simply lie or ignore.
Paul Budline
Witherspoon Street (proudly)
We can’t erase history; therefore we cannot erase the good done by WWilson, JWitherspoon, TJefferson, GWashington, TRoosevelt, FRoosevelt, and who knows, many more; so, are we seriously going to rename everything? They, as well as we, are all human beings, with lots of flaws, so where do we draw the line? We could start now, forget all this “Politically Correct Nonsense “and work together to avoid the mistakes of the past, we can’t pick and chose.