TO THE EDITOR:
This letter is written in response to comments in various listservs and news media arguing against changing the name of Saunders Hall, and two specific recurring themes:
First, that Saunders should not be defined by his role in the KKK.
Saunders’ KKK leadership role in North Carolina was not a hidden secret. He was openly a prominent organizer, and his status as “head of the KKK” was quoted in documents approving the naming of Saunders Hall. His life and its commemoration in Saunders Hall are inseparable from the Klan, its goals of “preserving the Aryan race,” and its use of terror and murder to further those goals. Further, the naming of Saunders Hall in 1922 took place during a resurgence of white supremacist activity in the U.S.; it thus represents two distinct instances of racial hatred.
Second, that it is unfair to judge Saunders by today’s standards.
The violence of the KKK was widely accepted by many (whites) as normal. But this is an intellectually and morally irresponsible argument. Saunders was far more than a product of his time; he actively produced history through his role in the entrenchment of white supremacy. It is precisely the normalized acceptance of the Klan’s terrorism that requires us to reject it now. Friday’s rally to “Kick Out The KKK” made clear that the issue of renaming Saunders Hall is not about William Saunders.
It is a minimal first step toward a public recognition of the worth of black bodies and black voices on this campus.
Benjamin Rubin
Graduate Student
