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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.
NewsHour Coverage
November 25, 1997:
Cornel West and the NewsHour historians discuss the importance of civic symbols.
September 30, 1997:
Presidential race advisers discuss Clinton's One America initiative.
September 25, 1997:
A look back at school desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas 40 years ago.
October 10, 1997:
Online Forum:
The President's race advisory panel on school desegregation.
July 4, 1997:
Online Forum:
The Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook joins Angela Oh respond to your questions on race relations.
May 20, 1997:
Betty Ann Bowser reports on the effects of dropping affirmative action programs in Texas universities.
April 9, 1997:
A federal court in California upholds a state ban on affirmative action programs.
Jan. 15, 1996:
Benjamin DeMott discusses his book "The Trouble with Friendship: Why Americans Can't Think Straight about Race."
Browse the NewsHour's coverage of Race Relations.
OUTSIDE LINKS:
The homepage for Dr. Charles Richard Drew Elementary School.
What's in a name?
Ask the Orleans Parish School Board, and the response will likely be "Plenty."
Five years ago, the school board started a policy that called for the renaming of schools honoring "former slave owners or others who did not respect equal opportunity for all."
So Jefferson Davis Elementary was changed to Ernest Morial School, after a former New Orleans mayor who was black. The school bearing Confederate General Robert E. Lee's name was changed to honor black astronaut Ronald McNair.
The school board did not limit its policy to the likes of Confederate presidents and generals. A school honoring Marie Couvent, a black owner of an orphanage who owned slaves, was changed as well. In total, 21 schools were renamed.
But when the Orleans Parish School Board decided to change Washington Elementary School to Dr. Charles Richard Drew Elementary School to honor the black physician, the move set off a national debate over the importance of civic symbols, and whether they should be re-evaluated by today's standards.
To some, scrubbing George Washington's name off a school is political correctness gone wild. Many historians argue that Washington's slave ownership should be viewed in the context of his time, when slavery was legally acceptable. Furthermore, focusing solely on Washington's slave ownership ignores the contributions Washington did make to American history, contributions that eventually produced a country which better achieves "equal opportunity for all."
But others argue that slavery is no less immoral just because it occurred in the past. And many members of the school board in New Orleans argue that a school with a population that is over 90 percent black, should honor individuals students can admire without reservation.
Orleans Parish School Board policy has raised the nation's eyebrows because it highlights some of the questions America increasingly confronts in both honoring and facing its complex history. For historical symbols can represent different things to different people; to one group, an anthem or flag symbolizes bravery and ancestry. To others, that same flag or anthem can symbolize repression.
How important are civic symbols? Should they be evaluated by contemporary standards or judged the context of their own era? Is it possible to have undisputable symbols that an entire nation can cherish? Should a community be allowed to pick its own symbols? Will this lead to a fractured nation, where symbols tear us apart, rather than unite us?
Our two guests will now answer your questions; Clarence Page is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune and NewsHour essayist; Professor Sean Wilentz is a professor of history and director of the Program in American Studies at Princeton University.
Questions answered 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.
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