Yes. Instead of taking the good with the bad, let’s all take the good and jiust ignore the bad. We will all be happier, more positive people if we strive to find the good in others, even people who are dead! Negativity doesn’t enhance anyone’s life.
It’s not. But people are not trying to rename Calhoun College in a vacuum. They are doing it as an exercise in classism, to prepare for the elections in November on the one hand, and as a test of the current limits of their strength on the other. If many of you here had read a history book other than one of Howard Zinn’s, you would see this tactic has been repeated since the late 1800s, primarily by labor groups.
Yale has officially decided to retain Calhoun’s name, although it has dropped the title “master” for “head of college”.
They give a very strange reason for deciding to retain the name:
[quote]
In his address to freshmen last August, Salovey continued an ongoing discussion on the issues concerning the names of buildings, using Calhoun as an example. Following an examination of the history of the naming of Calhoun College after Vice President John C. Calhoun, a fervent supporter of states’ rights, nullification, and slavery as a “positive good” — and after a careful review of student and alumni suggestions, scholarly views, and public commentary — it became evident that renaming Calhoun College could have the effect of hiding the legacy of slavery.quote
They also chose the names for two new residential colleges - Ben Franklin, and Pauli Murray. Pauli Murray was an AA woman who was one of the founders of NOW, a civil rights leader, and the first AA woman Episcopal priest. We all know who Ben Franklin was. Clearly these decisions were in no way based on any family members giving money in exchange for naming rights for a residential college. The residential college system at Yale is only 70 years old so I wonder if money changed hands back in the 40’s in naming a college for Calhoun or if was a more similar decision process to this one.
Anyway, I find it strange that that Salovey would come to the conclusion that changing the name of Calhoun would hide the legacy of slavery. The protests over his name and his legacy have brought it to light. Had the students been uncaring or complacent people would have continued to not know or comment about it. The administration reacted to the student protesters, they didn’t initiate the conversation about slavery.
(Not sure why my quote box came out so strangely - the only direct quote is the one by Salovey above.)
Three quotes from this thread:
*“I say move on to the future and stop worrying about the past. In essence, yes, get over it.”
“Like I said, the biggest “eff you” to Calhoun is to BE a black student rocking their time at Yale.”
"I also don’t like telling people who have suffered from bigotry how to feel or think "*
I strongly agree with the third one.
The residential building of Calhoun College wasn’t named so bc he was a large donor- it was named after him bc he was an alumni that rose to great political power - the choice was controversial even back then- leading to the question Does political power in and of itself merit honor.
John C. Calhoun moved from a plantation in South Carolina to a Yale dorm in November, 1802, where he studied under Timothy Dwight and Benjamin Silliman. His Yale tuition was paid from profits derived from slave labor. When he graduated, he won acclaim as one of the best students in the class of 1804.
"He rose to hold a position preeminent among the politicians of his era. He was elected to Congress in 1811, a mere seven years after graduating from Yale.
Calhoun occupied national political office in this country for almost 40 years, wielding enormous political influence on the preservation of slavery. From these offices, he explained why he thought slavery was great and why he thought the democratic idea of universal equality was wrong.
In 1930, Yale University decided that one of its residential colleges should be named “Calhoun College,” in honor of this man. When Yale University built Harkness Tower in the 1930s, Calhoun’s statue was installed as one of the eight Yale graduate “Worthies” of honor.
These decisions were controversial from the start. In fact, in 1992, a group of undergraduates from Calhoun College protested the name of their college. Yale refused to consider renaming the college, but did hang a framed poster inside Calhoun College, acknowledging the controversy.
It is true that Yale’s first two centuries boast no other U.S. Vice President or President. However, honoring John Calhoun today raises a question: Does the fact of political power by itself merit honor?"
IT IS MORE than just a name on a building- residents live in these communities for 4 years and develop a tight knit community where they are often called “Hounies” They sell Calhoun merchandise it becomes part of your identity while at Yale- They even have “Calhoun Fellows” as a black student would you want to be known as a Calhoun Fellow???
"Hounies can also often be found playing pool in the buttery, or cozying up with a good book in Calhoun’s own library. And Calhoun’s staff go above and beyond the line of duty to make Calhoun even more special, from running extravagant Calhoun-only meals in the dining hall to throwing special events like HounFest or September Soiree.
But by far the best part of Calhoun is the people. A microcosm of Yale, Hounies are involved in everything Yale and New Haven have to offer. Whether leading service trips in New Haven, rocking Yale’s halls in music groups, or having fun on the intramural fields, Hounies always find a way to keep busy. This doesn’t detract from Calhoun’s strong sense of community—for all four undergraduate years, Calhoun is a home away from home. Hounies are fun, friendly, curious, and encouraging, and make a point of looking out for each other and working together. "
To me its absurd that Yale would keep this name and subject Black students to this subjugation of being a member of the “Calhoun clan”… I DON’T THINK THERE IS ANYTHING THAT WILL EVER HIDE THE LEGACY OF SLAVERY…
Can you imagine Jewish students to have to buy merchandise and be known for 4 years as a “Hitler resident” while they attend Yale??
Thank you for that clarification; I had assumed it was due to a donation.
@alh Many of us have faced bigotry. Try being a Christian in a room of outspoken atheists. Or a woman in the military before that was common, as I was. Or a Republican in a town where people tear down or burn political signs in private yards. Bigotry goes all ways. You don’t have to be a certain race or religion to experience it.
My messages on this thread are generic to all people. Focus on the positive. Ignore the negative. Move forward, not backward.
I imagined that third quote to be pretty generic to all people and all situations.
@alh Thx.
I do hope we aren’t talking past each other.
This quote seems to me generic to all people and situations: * "I also don’t like telling people who have suffered from bigotry how to feel or think "*
I don’t agree with telling others: * “Focus on the positive. Ignore the negative. Move forward, not backward.”* However, I certainly support you in living that way if you think it best.
I think there’s this kneejerk tendency to roll your eyes at these kinds of social justice things, even if they’re perfectly reasonable.
Would you want to deliberately name your child after a mass murderer? Of course not. It’s perfectly logical to not want your stuff named after people who did horrible things. The only reason why it’s even named after him is that he gave the school lots of money; yay? Whom are you honoring by keeping the name? He’s long dead and I’m pretty sure most of his descendants either are or don’t give a damn.
Some people say that we shouldn’t judge people by the standards of our time. In some cases where the standards include arbitrary components, sure. But slavery is clearly a moral evil if you just look at really fundamental things like not wanting to hurt other people. It shouldn’t have been beyond people of his time to figure that out - and it wasn’t, as abolitionists did exist. Why not name it after one of them? Because they didn’t give Yale lots of money?
@alh Not sure why anyone would not want to live life thinking positively, but to each his/her own. Everyone on this CC site spews out opinions, as you and I both have. Free advice. Take it or leave it.
@alh And, no, I’m not always positive myself, but find I’m happier when I am - spreading sunshine rather than clouds and gloom.
And, yes, I did understand that your previous post #243 was directed at Pizzagirl and me, which was why I replied.
“It’s not that it’s a bad idea. It’s that it’s a trivial window dressing idea. See the difference?”
@Pizzagirl… but it’s apparently NOT trivial to certain people. If it were, this thread wouldn’t exist. And it’s why some posters here have said, with frustration, "Don’t tell me how to feel about slave ownership. I’m tired of whites telling minorities how to “feel’about exploitation and discrimination.”
On Wkiipedia, there are over 75 streets, towns, counties, schools, parks, etc named affer Calhoun in the USA.
So those protesting Yale students aren’t in fact just being pampered babies. They’re providing an educational public service, shedding light on more than one place affected by Calhoun. All the more reason to applaud and not criticize them.
You do realize that the same black student is going to get a degree from a university named after a slave trader, right?
@hebegebe The simple response to your implication of hypocrisy is that in the case of Yale, the benefits of the brand name are overwhelming enough to outweigh the slavery association. But in the case of Calhoun, it’s not - Yale will still be a target school if doesn’t have a building named after this random guy nobody knows about.
There are two separate issues here. First, are they allowed to feel whatever they want? Of course they are.
And second, if they choose to feel offended, should their opinion carry any more weight than those that disagree with them? For that, I say no.
I make an important distinction between intentionally offending and choosing to be offended. If I shaved my head and marched into a synagogue with a swastika, I am intentionally offending. But if instead I was a Jew objecting to a swastika being shown as part of a discussion about WW2, I am choosing to be offended.
@hebegebe Terrific example.