Black Justice League Calls Out Woodrow Wilson

One hundred years after Woodrow Wilson screened Birth of a Nation in the White House, Princeton’s Black Justice League projected it on the campus building that is his namesake.Wilson loved the film, which is a racist depiction of reconstruction in the American south, featuring the KKK and white actors in blackface. He was, after all, a committed racist.The BJL projected the film onto the Woody Woo building at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday night, and two hours later, onto the south wall of Frist. The group's screening intended to bring up the troubling part of Wilson’s legacy that is so little talked about on campus, where he remains Princeton’s beloved poster-boy. The BJL is the same group that organized the die-in and the Urban Congo protest in the chapel last year.It’s part of a larger campaign - last week, the group put up posters with racist quotes from Wilson and published an op-ed in the Daily Princetonian, written by Wilglory Tanjong ‘18 on behalf of the BJL.           “We want to start conversations between students and with the administration about legacy at Princeton, and why we venerate who we choose to venerate,” said Asanni York ‘17, a member of the BJL.York said that he and his friends weren’t able to ignore Wilson’s racist legacy while protesting racism at Princeton. He says his fellow activists were constantly pointing out to each other the serious disconnect between their convictions and the history of the Woodrow Wilson School.“You all are fighting racism on campus when the man your major is named after was an ardent racist,” York said, remembering the line. Woodrow Wilson isn't the only Princeton figure the group takes issue with, York said, pointing to names like Firestone and Stanhope.Come this year, they decided to start the conversation.“Institutions cannot claim to be inclusive when they actively throw oppression in people's’ faces,” York said. “They cannot claim to be invested in diversity when one of the most popular majors is named after an ardent racist… and expect people to believe you.”BJL wants to make Princeton question its complacency up to this point, using the screening and the posters to make that happen.Enacting real change, like getting the name of a major campus institution changed, is a much bigger task.“Do we want that? Absolutely. Do we expect it will happen? That’s another question,” York said.York said people have been asking him, “Why now?”In response, he says, “Why not earlier? Why hasn’t this conversation not been brought up in the past?” York said. “It’s inherent in the university and no one wants to talk about it,” he said.America’s history of slavery and racist symbols have been part of the national conversation all summer with the confederate flag debate in the south. In her op-ed, Tanjong compared honoring Wilson with building and major names to flying the confederate flag.Woodrow Wilson’s racism isn’t newly discovered. William Keylor, a professor of history at Boston University, wrote an article for Professor Voices in 2013 titled, “The long-forgotten racial attitudes and policies of Woodrow Wilson.” The Birth of a Nation film screening in the White House features in Keylor’s article.As for responses to the campaign, York says they’ve been mixed.“We’ve had support, confusion, and hate, but that comes with the territory of activism,” he said.Taimur Ahmad ‘16, who walked by the Birth of a Nation screening on Thursday night, said he thought the scrutiny on Wilson is good for the school.“I think it’s important for any institution to recognize its more unsavory history,” he said. “I think purging Wilson from the school would be a disservice to everyone, while being honest about his legacy would be a service to everyone.”- am