The best way to put it might just be: What Joe said.
A committee at the University of Arkansas has recommended stripping J. William Fulbright from its buildings, its campus and its history. In response, a letter from his family members made the papers last week in opposition.
There was backlash to the backlash. Feelings on campus are split. Because, well, J. William Fulbright was a complex man, as most of us are, and a man of his time, which even more of us are.
J. William Fulbright's statue and name have been part of the University of Arkansas campus for decades. Because you can't tell the story of Arkansas, the University of Arkansas, or even post-war American political history, without James William Fulbright (1905-1995).
At one point, he was the youngest university president in the United States. After the war, he was famous for taking on Tail Gunner Joe McCarthy and the Un-American Activities Committee. Oh, by the way, he lent his name to the international scholarship program that he helped create, considered one of the most prestigious such programs in the world. He was on the right side of history early on during the Vietnam War.
He was also a politician. Sometimes awfully so.
Bill Fulbright was on the wrong side of history when it came to civil rights. Of all the blights on his résumé, that one stands out, like a cast on a broken limb. On an otherwise happy and healthy person.
But instead of explaining that, and American history at the same time, and the complexities that come with being human, and how the arc of history (of at least this nation) has tended toward more liberty and freedom over the years, there are those who'd whitewash history.
In the middle of this, enter Joe Steinmetz, chancellor of the U of A.
Joe Steinmetz has been studying the issue, and late last week he sent his recommendations on the topic to the U of A System president for review. It will probably go before the board of trustees in the next month or so.
Chancellor Steinmetz suggested the statue of Senator Fulbright be moved from where it is, outside Old Main, to another location on campus, but keep the man's name for the university's arts and sciences college.
"I believe it is in the best interest of the university to retain this connection" to J. William Fulbright, the chancellor wrote. "We cannot and should not erase this history and connection to our campus, primarily for the educational value his presence brings to the campus."
Which is what cooler heads have been saying for weeks now.
Keep the statue (somewhere) and the man's name. For he did so much for the college and the state, not to mention the country and international relations. But explain his failures, too. That's part of a school's duty: education.
Once again, what Joe said:
"Specific concerns center on [Fulbright's] decision to sign the Southern Manifesto, unwillingness to challenge Orval Faubus during the Little Rock Central High School Crisis, opposition to the Civil Rights Bills of 1957 and 1964, and vote against the Voting Rights Bill of 1965," Steinmetz wrote, according to the story by this newspaper's Jaime Adame.
"On the other hand, we must also weigh his contributions as a president of the University and as a U.S. senator, including opposition to the Vietnam War and perhaps his greatest legacy, the Fulbright International Exchange Program, likely the most prestigious, far-reaching and important exchange program in the world."
Steinmetz said that scholars and others who knew him "have largely tied his shortcomings to the demands of political expediency of the times."
"For them, his votes did not reflect a hardened personal racism toward African Americans. Instead, they were more a reflection of his need to appease a voting constituency that was not ready for social change."
That's not good, either. And reflects not just on the man and his principles, but his constituents at the time. Isn't that something we should all study? And learn from? Lest we forget, all the missteps and mistakes by American politicians who blister the history books were put in office by voters: We the People.
A university--not to mention a Little Rock elementary school also named for Senator Fulbright--should be a place to learn, and not just about history, but about ourselves. But the craze for stripping names from buildings grows crazier. (Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln for Pete's sake. . . .)
Better would be to preserve our past, imperfections and all. And learn from it what we can.