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Student protests at Princeton University have led the university to agree to consider removing Woodrow Wilson's name from a residential college and school of public policy at the university. At the same time, the demand by black students that the university do so -- because of Wilson's racist views, which he incorporated into public policy -- has been widely criticized by some at the university and many pundits. But in a sign that the students have indeed placed the issue on the public agenda, The New York Times has in an editorial urged Princeton to drop the Wilson name.
The Wilson administration "set about segregating the work force, driving out highly placed black employees and shunting the rest into lower-paying jobs," says an editorial in the Times.
After reviewing Wilson's record of supporting segregation at levels beyond what he found when became president, the editorial says, "None of this mattered in 1948 when Princeton honored Wilson by giving his name to what is now called the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Black Americans were still viewed as nonpersons in the eyes of the state, and even the most strident bigots were held up to public adulation. This is certainly not the case today. The overwhelming weight of the evidence argues for rescinding the honor that the university bestowed decades ago on an unrepentant racist."
