The letter to the editor written by four professors in the Department of Statistics illustrates how some people feel about the Catt Hall issue.

They wrote “Whenever this controversy arises, one can’t help but think of the dramatic portrayal of Catt presented by Jane Cox, a leading scholar on the life of Catt.”

Cox may be a leading scholar on the life of Catt, but is she a leading scholar on the history of racism in this country? Whenever I hear about the Catt Hall issue, Cox’ s portrayal of Catt is not one of the first things I think of. Rather, I think about that period of time in which Catt was so politically active.

It was during that time that so much violence was being committed against black persons in this country. It was a time when “disadvantaged” people in this country were not only subjected to discrimination but also violence. People were being killed! People were suffering!

If Catt used racist words, or used “unsavory and expedient tactics,” during this time of discrimination, suffering, and violence, then that is extremely significant and should not be minimized or dismissed.

One way in which many of us “decent honest (white) folk” deal with our uncomfortable history of racism in this country is to try to offer up excuses for the people we believe to be our heroes when we realize they may have been racist.

We take some sort of strange comfort in believing that “everyone” was racist back then and that the racism was therefore culturally acceptable.

After all, we don’t want our heroes taken away from us! In fact, the statistic professors used the phrase “culturally acceptable in their time” to explain their perspective on issues like racism.

Gee, I thought there was more than one culture in this country, even way back then.

We need to acknowledge that racism may have been culturally acceptable to racists, but not to all persons living in this country.

When we consider whether we ought to apply a moral standard based on today’s cultural understanding to leaders of the past, we need to ask “whose culture are we talking about?”

Some people would argue that their cultural understanding of racism never changed. Their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents have known all along that racism is/was wrong.

It is unfortunate that so many of us have heard these excuses, explanations, and justifications for racism for so long that it eventually becomes our perception of truth, reality, and history.

We internalize the version of history and racism we were taught as being the only perspective, the correct perspective, the truth.

The naming and renaming of Catt Hall is a timely issue because it demonstrates that there is more than just one perception of racism not just as it exists today, but also of the history of racism and discrimination in this country. Given that some people actually believe that racism was culturally acceptable, it doesn’t surprise me that they see Catt’s words as being insignificant, trivial, excusable, and/or understandable.

And for those who believe that reading Catt’s speeches will enable us to put her words into context, I would suggest that reading her speeches does not go far enough.

How can you put her words into context if you don’t have a complete understanding of the history of her time? Not the white-perspective history so many of us were taught, but an all-inclusive history.

The renaming of Catt Hall is so important to some of us on campus because we are looking at this issue from a different perspective.

I have yet to hear an argument that has even come close to convincing me that we should retain Catt’s name on Old Botany.

Lynn Wellnitz

Secretary

Office of Admissions