Cast bronze statue of John Witherspoon, Princeton's sixth president.
In Congress, on July 4th, 1776, came the "unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America." Signed by 56 men, many of whom were considered national heroes just a few minutes ago, it opens with a long and elegant sentence whose first words every American child knows, or used to: "When in the Course of human events..." In Princeton, New Jersey, on July 4th, 2020, just two hours after my family and I sat around the festive table and read the Declaration aloud in celebration, a group of signatories now in the hundreds published a "
Faculty Letter" to the president and other senior administrators at Princeton University.
This letter begins with the following blunt sentence: "Anti-Blackness is foundational to America." One important difference between the two documents might wrongly be dismissed as merely cosmetic. In 1776 there were "united States" but there was not yet the "United States"; in these past two months, by contrast, at a time when we are increasingly un-united, "black" has become "Black" while "white" remains "white."
I am friends with many people who signed the Princeton letter, which requests and in some places demands a dizzying array of changes, and I support their right to speak as they see fit.
But I am embarrassed for them. To judge from conversations with friends and all too much online scouting, there are two camps: those cheering them on and those who wouldn't dream of being associated with such a document. No one is in the middle. If you haven't yet read it, do so now. Be warned: it is long.
Comment: Twitter provided more background: