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| WHEN SYMBOLS CLASH
Should America re-evaluate its civic symbols? December 10, 1997 |
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Questions asked
in this forum:
Should we avoid using people as civic symbols? Should we treat school names differently? How do other countries deal with controversial symbols? Should we consider some figures in American history sacred? Should a community be allowed to choose its own symbols? Additional comments and questions. Is this case sensitive because schools are involved? If so, should the renaming of schools be treated differently than the renaming of streets or government buildings? Clarence Page responds:
I think this case is sensitive because the name of George Washington was involved. Other school's names were changed without national note. I think some paranoid Americans thought their history was being insulted. On the contrary, I think history was being more completely revealed.
Professor Sean Wilentz responds:
Because we have more streets than schools, I suppose that school namings are more prone to causing controversy. Government buildings are almost always named after prominent public officials, which cuts down on the possible arguments. And then there's the adult presumption that, somehow, impressionable students will be profoundly affected by their school's name (a presumption I doubt is true, but that's another matter...).Accordingly, public officials might be a bit more careful when naming schools, making sure that the principle of selection is not too narrow -- or that the name being proposed is being used merely as an instrument of chauvinism, certain to offend a portion of the student body, parents, and relatives.
In the end, though, I believe that what's TAUGHT inside any school is more important than the name that's emblazoned over the door. The controversy over school names threatens to distract attention away from the parlous state of history education in the schools in most parts of the country.
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