Why aren't blacks protesting against the name of Wilson High like @ Princeton?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think the only two viable name choices are a racist or Barry, you need to study history yourself.

Maybe name buildings after some no name people. Perhaps just call schools by numbers. DCPS # 2. Tear down the Washington Monument, Lincoln/Jefferson Memorial. A major wipe out was Robert E Lee's estate - Now Arlington National. Don't forget anything named Kennedy since he did this:
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/jfk-refused-sammy-davis-jr-perform-white-house/story?id=23379345

Lame argument. Equating criticism of Wilson with adulation of Barry. Did you actually graduate from college with such poor reasoning skills?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe there are schools named after Colin Powell. He lied to the American public and the world about Saddam Hussein's weapons, leading to a war in which many innocents lost their lives. I know blacks want schools named after them but we really need to do better than honor black murderers.

Maybe start with not assuming that you know what all blacks want. First of all, black is a race and includes not just African-Americans, but people of African descent from nations and cultures all over the world. I doubt that anyone believes that a school should be named after Idi Amin or OJ Simpson. There are already schools (both public and private) around the US named after both AA and non-AA people of African descent including Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Afro-Native American Crispus Attucks (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crispus_Attucks), Afro-Peruvian Martin de Porres (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_de_Porres) and Haitian Du Sable (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Baptiste_Point_du_Sable)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe an AA DCUMer can ask about this at the next secret Black People meeting, where it is decided how all black people think and feel about things.

Hahaha!
-AA DCUMer waiting for my invite to the secret meeting

[Anonymous]

We need people to tell the truth about Alice Deal also!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We need people to tell the truth about Alice Deal also!

I've always wondered who Alice Deal was. Google is no help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe an AA DCUMer can ask about this at the next secret Black People meeting, where it is decided how all black people think and feel about things.

Hahaha!
-AA DCUMer waiting for my invite to the secret meeting

Another AA DCUMer. Yeah really, waiting for the secret mtg, lol.

I'd also point out that not all AAs are fans of Marion Barry. I think that's more a DC AA thing. I was shocked at all the props he got in DC when I first moved here a couple yrs ago. I just vaguely remember him being him a crackhead back in the day.

[Anonymous]

The name change dialogue is valid, but the quality of the discussion publically is so lacking that it cannot be the basis for action. Here is the question - is The argument thst Wilson's racism disqualifies him from any naming honor? Or only that his ability to implement policies that reflected his views (and if the latter, is everyone who voted for him equally complicit and undeserving of a naming honor?). And what about this - the school at Princton honors the former President of the University who was a proponent of the League of Nations. It failed, but the idea of a standing international body was a significant development. This is not a humanitarian honor, it is an international relations graduate school program. If a person holds dipicable views by contmporary standards in one area, is s/he disqualified from any honor? beyond race, is every sexist chauvinist disqualified for any naming honor? Why would this be limited to racial concerns? No honors for men who advocated policies adverse to women's rights? There needs to be a more thoughtful dialogue on where the lines should be drawn.

[Anonymous]

I am a Princeton alumnus and parent of a Wilson HS graduate. I am not a big fan of Wilson - he was a segregationist and he abused power domestically during the war - but the same is more or less true of almost every U.S. President until very recently.

However, Wilson's Fourteen Points and his role at the Paris Peace Conference were the beginning of the U.S. becoming a global leader whose diplomacy was not based on empire-building or reparations but on international covenants, cooperation, and trade. That is the Wilson honored at Princeton with the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Wilson was an alumnus, professor, and President of Princeton before being elected Governor of New Jersey and the President. His name on things at Princeton is not a racially motivated micro-aggression.

As for DCPS, Woodrow Wilson name on a high school is not one of the top 50 issues that residents of DC should be concerned about. He did sign the bill passed by Congress that segregated DC, making it like the Jim Crow states of Virginia and Maryland, so once when we resolve all the issues that affect people's lives, we can look at Wilson, McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, Coolidge, Frank Ballou, and everyone else who tolerated segregation who has a school or building or park or street or neighborhood or statue named for him/her, and while we are at it, we should go ahead and make sure there is nothing named after anyone with any action or statement that discriminated against any person or group based on race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or whatever else we can add to the list.

Or just stop naming anything after any person, dead or alive, because there is literally no one of any consequence who can pass all the traps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you think the only two viable name choices are a racist or Barry, you need to study history yourself.

Racist or Barry? Barry was a racist -- his rants on Asians and others were an embarrassment to Washington, DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The name change dialogue is valid, but the quality of the discussion publically is so lacking that it cannot be the basis for action. Here is the question - is The argument thst Wilson's racism disqualifies him from any naming honor? Or only that his ability to implement policies that reflected his views (and if the latter, is everyone who voted for him equally complicit and undeserving of a naming honor?). And what about this - the school at Princton honors the former President of the University who was a proponent of the League of Nations. It failed, but the idea of a standing international body was a significant development. This is not a humanitarian honor, it is an international relations graduate school program. If a person holds dipicable views by contmporary standards in one area, is s/he disqualified from any honor? beyond race, is every sexist chauvinist disqualified for any naming honor? Why would this be limited to racial concerns? No honors for men who advocated policies adverse to women's rights? There needs to be a more thoughtful dialogue on where the lines should be drawn.

When will the protests start at the National Cathedral to exhume Wilson's body from the south wall?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you ever noticed that one of the first things a totalitarian group does when it comes to power is change all the street names? This is rampant with Islamist leaning groups in the Middle Eat. The idea is implant the idea in everyday life that there is no history worth knowing other than the one they favor.

I guess this would explain Republicans' effort to name everything after Reagan.....

[Anonymous]

If we have to prioritize--it seems like a good time to change the name of the football team, which is an unambiguous racist slur.

[Anonymous]

I am an African-American graduate of Wilson from the 90s. Had no idea that Wilson was a racist. Certainly was glossed over in our history class when learning about the League of Nations. That said, I don't think it bothers me, because it's not as if he is being specifically honored for his racist beliefs or achievements. Much more interested in getting the football team's name changed.

[Anonymous]

How about ex-mayor Tony Williams?

[Anonymous]

My two cents:

1) Are we going to reject the Wilson name because of his serious transgressions but embrace Marion Barry despite his transgressions?

2) Part of having a human history is learning from it. There are multitudes of imperfect past leaders. Let's take their positives and more importantly, learn from their negatives and evolve as a species.