Duke to Rename Building Dedicated to Notorious Racist

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

A North Carolina university is set to remove the name of a notorious white supremacist from a building following the recommendations of a committee of students and staff.

Trustees at Duke University in Durham voted in favor of the committee's proposal Saturday. The move will see the "Carr Building," currently dedicated to local industrialist and racist Julian Carr, called the "Classroom building," Duke Today reported.

“[The] white supremacist actions that Carr pursued throughout his life, even when considered in light of the time in which they were held, are inconsistent with the fundamental aspirations of this university, and removing the name will be a powerful statement that lifts up our values as a diverse and inclusive institution,” the committee wrote in their report on the issue.

Duke's history department previously suggested the building should be renamed after the university’s first African American professor, Raymond Gavins. Trustees are still considering this option "along with other meaningful ways to honor [distinguished individuals’] legacies,” university president Vincent Price wrote in a statement. The board did not immediately respond to Newsweek’s request for comment.

Price called Carr’s legacy “complex” in his message published Saturday. His philanthropy enabled a “small liberal arts school” to “transform into [a] great university,” Price continued. “But this same person also actively promoted white supremacy through words and deeds that, even by the historic norms of the times, were extraordinarily divisive."

Born in Chapel Hill, NC, in 1845, Carr was the son of prominent slave owner John Wesley Carr. An industrialist, he enjoyed success in tobacco manufacturing, textiles, publishing and utilities.

A vocal member of the Ku Klux Klan, Carr advocated lynching of African Americans, The Herald Sun previously reported. He famously promoted white supremacy during a speech at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill unveiling of a statue of a confederate soldier. During the speech he described an incident in which he “horse-whipped” a black woman “until her skirts hung in shreds” after she allegedly insulted a “Southern lady.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/duke-to-rename-building-dedicated-to-notorious-racist/ar-BBQqbWU?li=BBnb7Kz

[Calista241]

1. This is a risky decision for Duke.

While Carr's beliefs and conduct in the late 1800 is reprehensible by today's standards, it wasn't out of the norm for his time.

And Duke University exists as an institution of higher learning today as a direct result of Carr's actions and donations. Carr signed on to take on the debt of the university as they were facing foreclosure. Later, the school was moved to land that he gifted to the University, upon which Duke is still located today.

They basically took his money and his land, and then renamed the building named after him when it was no longer socially acceptable. If this happened to anyone less contemptible, it would be scandalous.