Princeton University will remove the name of Woodrow Wilson from its school of international affairs because of the “racist politics and opinions” of the former American president, the prestigious East Coast university announced on Saturday.
Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) ruled the United States between 1913 and 1921. Abroad, the founding father of the League of Nations (ancestor of the United Nations) embodied the end of American isolationism.
But in his country, the 28e The American president had let the southern states practice segregation and he had authorized the federal departments to separate their black employees from their white employees.
“His racist policies and opinions make his name inappropriate for a school where students, staff and alumni must be fully involved in the fight against the scourge of racism,” the president said in a statement. the university, Christopher Eisgruber, after a vote by the board of directors.
Wilson “practiced segregation in this nation’s public service after years of desegregation, driving America back in the pursuit of justice,” added the Princeton, New Jersey executive who is part of the Ivy League, an ultra-select club of eight excellent universities in the northeast of the country.
Since the death of George Floyd, an African-American asphyxiated by a white police officer on May 25, the United States, where part of the population is demonstrating against systemic racism, has been in the process of self-examination and rethinking its relationship to their past racist.
After the debunking of many statues, the desire to move away from the Confederate heritage of the South is gaining ground: the governor of Mississippi, a former very conservative slave state, said on Saturday that he would not oppose withdrawing the controversial Confederate standard that adorns the current flag of his state.
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