I was appalled at the University’s decision to remove Wilson from multiple places at Princeton. We all recognize his racist stance but we also recognize his many contributions to Princeton, New Jersey, the United States, and to the world. As they say in the entertainment business, judge by the “total body of work.” You can’t pluck an individual out of history and judge him/her by the customs, values, and mores of another time. As I write this, the statue topplers are after Columbus and Teddy Roosevelt. I suppose the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument are next. God help us if a historian decides that St. Paul was assisted by a slave on the road to Damascus.
I was appalled at the University’s decision to remove Wilson from multiple places at Princeton. We all recognize his racist stance but we also recognize his many contributions to Princeton, New Jersey, the United States, and to the world. As they say in the entertainment business, judge by the “total body of work.” You can’t pluck an individual out of history and judge him/her by the customs, values, and mores of another time. As I write this, the statue topplers are after Columbus and Teddy Roosevelt. I suppose the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument are next. God help us if a historian decides that St. Paul was assisted by a slave on the road to Damascus.