Steps towards highlighting past injustices need to be improved
To say that the University of Alabama has had an eventful history when it comes to race relations would be an understatement. I spent reading week with a good friend who attends the school, and while I enjoyed my time with her, it was difficult to ignore that racist events are a part of the university’s history.
Beyond its strong football team, the University of Alabama is best known outside of its state for the “stand in the schoolhouse door,” the confrontation between the first enrolled black student Autherine Lucy and Governor George Wallace, who was trying to prevent her from registering. While she was allowed to register, she would be expelled three days later.
[media-credit name=”Photo by Fiona Cashell” align=”aligncenter” width=”1020″]
A monument now stands in front of the building where the standoff took place, commemorating Lucy and a number of other black students who attended the university in those early days. The plaques surrounding the monument celebrate the achievements of these students, applauding their bravery and their ability to inspire others. But, they do not mention that many of the barriers those students had to overcome were imposed by the institution itself.
While the plaques are definitely a start in acknowledging the university’s past of institutional racism, there are still examples of this troubled history on campus. Morgan Hall, for example, was named after a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. Despite a petition circulated last year to rename the building after Harper Lee, an alumna of the university, the name remains unchanged.
As the institution was established in 1820, it is unsurprising that there would be remnants of racial tension built into the university. However, it is the way that this past is presented that is important.
Walking the line between protecting a university’s heritage and being open to change in the name of inclusivity is not unique to the southern United States. Last summer, the Ryerson Students’ Union and the Indigenous Students’ Association urged their university to change its name because of Egerton Ryerson’s role in shaping the residential school system.Many students at the University of Alabama also want to change the way their institution is represented, creating a campaign called “Whose Campus is This?” to make sure campus tours include information about the historical experiences of students of colour at the university.
During my visit, I met some wonderful and open minded people. I believe that the remnants of this racist legacy do not accurately portray the best that the University of Alabama has to offer, and that it is a disservice to the students to include such racially problematic forms of commemoration on campus.
Photo by Fiona Cashell