Georgia refuses to rename any of its 75 buildings with ties to slavery or racial segregation because 'history can teach us important lessons'
- In June 2020, the Board of Regents asked an advisory group to review 75 of the University System of Georgia's (USG) nearly 4,000 buildings
- After more than a year of deliberation, the board announced that it 'will not pursue name changes' and cited lessons that can be learned from history
- The committee was called on to rename the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Georgia
- The school was named after newspaper editor Henry W Grady who supported white supremacy and preached a 'New South' creed of industrialization
- Meanwhile, a 2019 Georgia law prohibits state and local agencies from renaming buildings named after 'historical entity' or removing historical monuments
Georgia's public university system refused to rename any of its 75 buildings with ties to slavery or racial segregation in a vote on Monday and explained 'history can teach us important lessons'.
Back in June 2020, the Board of Regents Chairman Sachin Shailendra and Chancellor Steve Wrigley asked an advisory group to review 75 of the University System of Georgia's (USG) more than 3,800 buildings across 26 colleges and universities that are named after Confederate leaders and champions of slavery and segregation.
After more than a year of deliberation, the board released a statement announcing that it 'will not pursue name changes on USG buildings and colleges as recommended by the advisory group’s report'.
According to Fox News, the vote was unanimous.
'The intent of the advisory group was to better understand the names that mark our buildings and colleges, recognizing there would likely be a number of individuals who engaged in behaviors or held beliefs that do not reflect or represent our values today.
In June 2020, the Board of Regents Chairman Sachin Shailendra (left) and Chancellor Steve Wrigley (right) asked an advisory group to review 75 of the University System of Georgia's (USG) more than 3,800 buildings across 26 colleges and universities that are named after Confederate leaders and champions of slavery and segregation
Shailendra and Wrigley pointed to the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Georgia (pictured) for a name-change, the namesake of newspaper editor Henry W Grady who supported white supremacy and preached a 'New South' creed of industrialization
'Understanding the history of names fulfills a knowledge mission that has guided USG for the past 90 years,' the statement added, noting that 'the purpose of history is to instruct' and suggesting that understanding the 'important lessons' behind the names of the facilities could 'make Georgie and its people stronger'.
Who was Henry W Grady and why he was considered a white supremacist?
The Board of Regents also called on members to rename three of USG's academic units, including the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Georgia, named after newspaper editor Henry W Grady who supported white supremacy and preached a 'New South' creed of industrialization.
Born in 1850 in Athens, Georgia, Grady became a special reported for The New York Herald in 1876 and would go on to head The Atlanta Constitution three years later.
At The Constitution he promoted his personal political views, which included using industrialization to revitalize the South.
In his speeches, which he gave across the east coast throughout the late 1880s, he spoke on the 'New South' and claimed that 'the supremacy of the white race of the South must be maintained forever'.
Henry W Grady
However, the Board did add that 'going forward, (it) is committed to naming actions that reflect the strength and energy of Georgia's diversity'.
The decision came two years after Georgia Code Title 50 was passed - a law that prohibits state and local agencies from renaming any buildings named after 'historical entity' or removing any historical monument.
However, the board did not reference the 2019 law and failed to mention why the board's members ultimately decided against the renaming.
The committee was vying for the advisory group to choose a new name for Gordon State College in Barnesville, which was named after Confederate general in the Civil War John Brown Gordon.
Gordon also served as a US governor and later US senator after Georgia rejoined the Union, making him one of the most powerful politicians in a state's Democratic Party, as reported by AP.
Although it hasn't been confirmed, many historians have also concluded that Gordon was the titular head of the post-Civil War Klu Klux Klan (KKK) in Georgia.
The board was also called on to rename three of USG's academic units. Shailendra and Wrigley pointed to the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Georgia, named after newspaper editor Henry W Grady who supported white supremacy and preached a 'New South' creed of industrialization.
The Langdale College of Business Administration at Valdosta State University was also suggested to undergo a name-change, and the committee cited Harley Langdale Jr, who oversaw African American workers making turpentine from pine resin on land based on campus.
Langdale's workers were largely held in place by debt, legal threats and violence, according to AP.
The third academic unit suggested for a renaming was the Stafford School of Business at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.
Stafford was reportedly a leader who fought to keep segregation in Georgia throughout the 1950s.
The decision was met with furious change-seekers.
A group called Rename Grady, which is dedicated to 'remove white supremacist Henry Grady's name from UGA's College of Journalism and Mass Communications,' according to its Twitter biography, tweeted a statement after Monday's announcement.
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The Langdale College of Business Administration at Valdosta State University (pictured) was one of the academic units suggested to undergo a name-change. The committee cited Harley Langdale Jr, who oversaw African American workers making turpentine from pine resin on land based on campus
The committee was vying for the advisory group to choose a new name for Gordon State College in Barnesville (pictured), which was named after Confederate general in the Civil War John Brown Gordon
'The decision by Georgia’s Board of Regents to keep the names of known racists, segregationists and white supremacists of the state’s public colleges and universities is not surprising. It demonstrates to us the board’s support of racism and the upholding of white supremacy,' it read.
Rename Grady uses their Twitter page to promote a petition to change the name of the college to honor Charlayne Hunter-Gault instead, an award-winning journalist who integrated the school in 1961.
As of Wednesday the petition has 9,107 signatures.
The panel also recommended stripping the names of former politicians from USG schools, including Gov Eugene Talmadge, who served three terms throughout the 1930s and 40s; US Sen Richard Russell, who notoriously voted against civil rights acts designed to ban lynching and the poll tax; and US Rep Carl Vinson, who was a fierce supporter of the US military.
The report also noted that Talmadge, Vinson and Russell were all outspoken defenders of desegregation in the 20th century.
After reviewing a total of 878 buildings and colleges named for individuals, groups, companies or landmarks, Shailendra and Wrigley found that it wasn't just schools honoring Confederates, slaveholders and white supremacists.
They called on the board to rename the Huntington Administration Building at Fort Valley State University, which historically has a majority-black student population.
The panel cited railroad tycoon Collis Huntington and his mistreatment of Chinese laborers.
Despite the 2019 law Georgia Code Title 50, the state has been taking down monuments and renaming buildings.
Despite Georgia's 2019 law prohibiting state and local agencies from renaming buildings named after 'historical entity' or removing historical monuments, the controversial 'genocide cannon' was taken down in October 2021
In December of last year an Atlanta high school chose to change the name of Henry W Grady High School and let the students vote on what their school would be called going forward.
According to AP, with a 61.4 percent vote, the high school's name was changed to Midtown High School.
Other choices included Ida B Wells High School after prominent black American journalist Wells, who was born into slavery during the Civil War and later became a civil rights activist; and Piedmont High School. Respectively, the names received 19.8 percent and 18.8 percent of the votes.
In DeKalb County, a controversial cannon monument - dubbed the 'genocide cannon' - was taken down back in October.
Hundreds of people gathered at the town square and cheered workers on as they used a crane to remove the 'relic of the Indian War of 1836' located in Decatur Square since it was erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1906.
Activist groups including the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights, Hate Free Decatur and even students from Decatur High School had been pushing for it to be taken down, arguing that it was a shrine to white supremacy and violence against Native Americans.
