A decision has been made. A resolution approved. But the argument will doubtless go on. Because it's a complex problem, as things always seem to be with mere people.
The University of Arkansas has been in the middle of the American Statue Fight for the last year. The question(s) this time surround J. William Fulbright, one of Arkansas' most noted politicians of his era. Emphasis on those last three words: of his era.
Like most people of his era, or any era, he wasn't always right. And was found wanting as history unfolded. Which is something that'll probably be said about us all in the coming generations.
Sen./professor/university president Fulbright might be best known for the Fulbright exchange program when he was in Congress, but he was also a leading advocate for getting the United States out of the Vietnam War ... and, apropos to today's news, for voting against civil rights reforms in the 1950s and 1960s.
But his statue stands at the U of A in Fayetteville and his name is affixed to the university's J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.
The question: Should his statue stand and his name be remembered?
The University of Arkansas System's board of trustees approved a resolution this past week that will keep the statue and the name--but with added context to show the man's "complex legacy." According to Jaime Adame's story in Thursday's paper, nobody on the 10-member board opposed the resolution.
"I think we ought to also remember that he was not only a complex man, but he was living in extremely difficult times," said one board member. Which doesn't excuse J. William Fulbright's faults--or shouldn't. But better would be to explain the faults of those times, and what Americans in general and in the South in particular demanded of their politicians. Oftentimes, it wasn't for the general good.
Specifics on how to "contextualize" (as the suits call it) the statue and the man are still in the works. But it's going to take some doing. As a biographer of Sen. Fulbright, Randall Woods, told the paper, you can't do it on a plaque. Not unless you're going to use 4-point font. There's just too much to say.
The resolution by the board directs the university to "add contextualization to the statue that affirms the University's commitment to racial equality" and acknowledges Senator Fulbright's actions on civil rights and integration. Which might prove an education at this education establishment.
Americans can have this all-important time of reckoning with the racial transgressions of our past, while at the same time recognizing the advancements that would not have come without the guidance of some very flawed, and sometimes malleable, people. (For example, in 1956, Mr. Fulbright signed the awful Southern Manifesto. But then in 1967 voted to confirm Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court.)
So what happens after this resolution? More debate. It's the American way. A group of students put out a statement saying they'll continue to work, presumably against J. William Fulbright's memory. A committee on campus had already recommended just the opposite of what the board approved. Expect to have more conversations about this in the future, which might help in understanding of the matter. This is education. It never ends.
A decision has been made. A resolution approved. But the argument will doubtless go on. Because it's a complex problem, as things always seem to be with mere people.