I wonder why they're starting with Wilson, and not with Jefferson (although maybe how people will perceive the choice of going with Jefferson first might be an issue?). Jefferson owned slaves for fucks sake. I'm not opposed to name changes of schools (etc), but as long as it's just putting a pig in a tuxedo, the underlying issues will still be there.
My concern is, where does it stop at? Someone can likely find something deemed controversial about any school name.
Jefferson was opposed to slavery, He fought hard to make it unConstitutional. I believe he turned all his slaves free before he died. So, he was bad for once owning slaves it's not what you were or once believed it's what you are or believe last that counts. When I was 8 or 9 years old, I was a little racist but about when I turned 12 I changed and have been virulent in my opposition to racism ever since. Does that make me bad?
A: he wasn't opposed to it B: he didn't free all his slaves before he died. He freed 7 of his slaves (he had approx 600) in his will. 2 of them being the sons of Sally Hemings. C: Believing something at 12 is not the same as owning people and thinking they were not humans...*as an adult*. D: He thought blacks were inferior to whites and incapable of supporting themselves if freed. https://www.monticello.org/slavery/slavery-faqs/property/
He most definitely was opposed to it. "Jefferson’s views on slavery and blacks are complex. At one time he thought blacks were naturally inferior to other races, but later conceded that servitude may have had an impact on their abilities. As a young Virginia legislator, he unsuccessfully advocated allowing private citizens to free their slaves. Later he introduced a bill barring free blacks from staying in the state. His original draft of the Declaration of Independence included strong language opposing the transatlantic slave trade. As president, he signed a bill outlawing that trade. “Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever…” —Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, 1782 Jefferson recognized the evils of slavery, but he remained tied to the system and freed only seven of his bondsmen, all were members of the Hemmings family at Monticello. His concerns about emancipation ranged from paternalistic to self-interest. He believed most former slaves couldn’t survive independently. He also feared for his own economic survival and the safety of whites at the mercy of former slaves who had, in his words, been subjected to “unremitting despotism” and “degrading submissions.” As an older man, he advocated freeing and returning slaves to Africa. “There is nothing I would not sacrifice to a practicable plan of abolishing every vestige of this moral and political depravity.” —Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Cooper, September 1814" https://www.poplarforest.org/learn/...of-poplar-forest/jeffersons-views-on-slavery/
No human being is perfect and without flaws. ANYONE who Portland Soros Squad picks will be someone just as reprehensible to half the city as anyone they erase. MLK, an adulterer. John Lewis, a hate-filled, divisive bigot. George Floyd, a violent career criminal. Margaret Higgins Sanger, eugenicist Maybe just name them after trees?
If you had actually boned up on Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier you just might be in favor of changing some Catholic school names. Saints or not, those two guys have a lot of history to answer for.......Junipero Serra is a rank amateur by comparison.
IT IS WHAT IT IS. I actually went here about 5 years ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuary_of_Loyola