In the midst of a budget crisis possibly resulting in teacher layoffs, a group of parents and teachers at the Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in Berkeley, CA are engaged in an effort to rename the school. At issue is whether a school, named after an individual with a slave holding past is a good fit for the large black student population? Perhaps the more appropriate question is whether such efforts are shortsighted in nature? Is JeffersonĖs negative legacy as a slaveholder the sum total by which he is measured? If the answer is yes then I suggest that no school can be named after any individual because few could pass the examination of an individualĖs subjective scrutiny as to what is acceptable.
What would be the reaction the African American parents in favor of the name change if there were a movement to remove the name Martin Luther King from schools because he was an adulterer and a possible plagiarist? Should those aspects of KingĖs behavior that we may disagree be given more emphasis than that which we applaud? Like it or not, Thomas Jefferson is truly one of the few authentic renaissance men ever produced by America.
It is a life that deserves examination and understanding by all, regardless of color. The works Martin King are laced with the beliefs and thoughts of Jefferson. In fact, it was KingĖs knowledge of Jefferson that demonstrated to the world the hypocrisy of American democracy as it related to peoples of African descent. Beyond his being an inventor, Governor of Virginia, Secretary of State, Vice President, and President of the United States, the Jeffersonian legacy was one of amazing accomplishment.
Furthermore, because he was the founder, are we suggesting that JeffersonĖs slaveholding past makes it impossible for any African American student to attend the University of Virginia? Does our dismissal of Jefferson as a slaveholder means that no African American should utilize the Library of Congress? After all, it was Jefferson who sold his personal library to the federal government that gave the Library of Congress it origin. This does not excuse Jefferson as a slaveholder, nor does he receive a pass for merely being a man of his times. If anything, Jefferson the slaveholder bears a harsher critique because of his particular enlightenment and that there is enough documentation to suggest that Jefferson understood the moral inconsistencies of slavery. By limiting, however, the Jeffersonian legacy as nothing more than a slaveholder, the parents and teachers who are pushing to rename the building are missing perhaps the most critical piece of JeffersonĖs contribution to American life, which I believe renders their actions as shortsighted.
With district officials wrestling with a major budget deficit, that calls for 200 teachers to receive layoff notices, students struggling to comprehend English, increased class size and the possible elimination of certain key programs, should not the parents be more concerned about how the proposed budget cuts will impact the future of their children? Should they not embrace a battle cry that suggests that public education is a right and not a privilege? With the same fervor to change the name of the school, should they not also tell the school district that they hold these truths to be self-evident that all children are created equal, endowed with certain inherent and inalienable rights, among those are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? At this critical juncture in BerkeleyĖs public school system, doesnĖt that seem to be much more important than the name which is on the building?