Comments@THE GUSS REPORT-The United States and much of the free world is presently undergoing a transformational cleansing of racist brands and misdeeds by current celebrities, historic figures and Madison Avenue, for starters.
With the caveat that their misdeeds should be preserved for posterity, rather than erased or deleted, let’s start at the top, rather than just going after the low-hanging fruit like racist names and images from Uncle Ben’s rice, Aunt Jemina syrup and Eskimo Pie ice cream.
ABC’s late-night host Jimmy Kimmel suddenly went underground last week for a multi-month siesta as calls for him to apologize for his past blackface skits grew louder. His counterpart at NBC, Jimmy Fallon, already apologized for doing the same. Kimmel’s first act upon returning should be to apologize and explain himself.
Public statues of slavery perpetrators Christopher Columbus and Thomas Jefferson are being torn down and desecrated, though in the long run it would be wiser for them to be moved to museums so their historic significance, both the horrendous and noteworthy, can serve future generations.
Some of the richest, most powerful and successful people in the world should do the same by looking in the mirror and demanding that modern-day institutions with racist roots, like Yale University in Connecticut, should stop honoring those who profited from slavery.
Once known as the Collegiate School of Connecticut, founded in 1701, its name was changed to Yale College (now Yale University) shortly after it moved to New Haven in 1716 when a substantial donation was made to the school by Elihu Yale, a notorious slave trader who made his fortune running The East India Company, which was an Amazon or Apple of the 17th century.
Now, I’m not suggesting that Yale, one of the most important schools in the world, be shut down. But the brand name, Yale, should go. Some of its original wealth, which has grown immensely over the centuries, should be transferred without strings to historic black colleges and universities, and they can determine how to allocate some of that tainted money for scholarships, food banks, jobs and housing programs and to open or revitalize hospitals in the nation’s poorest communities.
In other words, vital, tangible change that is free of the influence and touch of politicians, celebrities, corporations, and unions.
Yale’s endowment as of 2019 was $30.31 billion dollars, second only to Harvard, and it has an investment portfolio that performs extremely well, so its penitence could continue in perpetuity. How about Yale allocate a half-billion dollars each to historic black colleges and universities like Spelman College, Howard University, Xavier University of Louisiana, Hampton University, Morehouse College, North Carolina A&T State University, Florida A&M University, Tuskegee University, Claflin University, Fisk University, Dillard University, North Carolina Central University, Clark Atlanta University, Delaware State University, Morgan State University, Tougaloo College, Jackson State University, Winston-Salem State University, Lincoln University, University of Maryland--Eastern Shore, and Prairie View A&M University and then a small percentage of all proceeds for the next century or two?
Or is that not the kind of change that is now long past due?
You see, words are words and changing the name Yale to something other than a slave trader’s name is a good start like rebranding itself for President Barack Obama. Wouldn’t that be the ultimate changing of the guard! Is he historic enough for Yale?
Or do the mostly white elites who still run Yale think that that’s a bit much? Note, Yale University’s president Peter Salovey is white and its Board of Trustees still has a minority of minority skin tones. Change is needed there, too.
Would these actions be supported by Yale alum and former President Bill Clinton, who fancied himself the first black president after being given that informal title by Nobel Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison, which is as cringeworthy in 2020 as Joe Biden telling Black Americans “you ain’t black?”
Whatever the case, don’t think that Yale will change its name or cough up ten billion dollars voluntarily. If Yale wanted to do that, it would already have done so.
It is not as if those who ran Yale over the centuries, or the famous people who studied there, weren’t aware of Elihu Yale’s background. Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton each earned their law degree at Yale, as did Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Brett Kavanaugh. Academy Award winners like Jodie Foster and Meryl Streep graduated from there. So did Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman and President Donald Trump’s Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Come on Bob Woodward and Oliver Stone and so many others whose words have the highest profile. Where are your voices on Elihu Yale?
In 1989, when the Aunt Jemima brand turned 100, its owner, the Quaker Oats Company, decided to get rid of its “mammy” archetype and made her more contemporary, while retaining its lucrative but still racist name, so don’t for one moment think it was unaware until last week that it was marketing in and profiting from racial stereotypes. Similarly, don’t believe that Yale’s illustrious alumni didn’t know about Elihu Yale.
Change also starts locally and peacefully. The next time you see someone wearing gear with Yale’s famous “Y” insignia, politely and rhetorically ask, “did you know that Elihu Yale was a slave trader?” Then, regardless of their response, peacefully walk away without confrontation. A quiet riot, as it were.
And lastly, this is to you folks currently attending Yale. How about a good old fashioned and peaceful sit-in at the administration building and the Board meetings until the school sheds its shameful moniker? If it was good enough for your parents in the 60s, it is even timelier for you now. And since it is money that always speaks loudest, how about a campaign to discourage donations to the school if it doesn’t see the light?
Arguably the most important subject of the day isn’t Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden. That’ll sort itself out later this year. The most important subject is whether those with the biggest megaphones in government, corporate America, broadcasting and Hollywood will stop yammering about the racism of a maple syrup brand and Christopher Columbus, and summon the courage to demand the removal of the name Yale from the school and for the school to reallocate a healthy chunk of its ill-gotten gains to help those whose ancestors and centuries of their descendants suffered at the hands and trade of Yale-the-man.
Or is changing the name of maple syrup, rice, and ice cream good enough?
(Daniel Guss, MBA, is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, and has contributed to CityWatch, KFI AM-640, iHeartMedia, 790-KABC, Cumulus Media, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Magazine, Movieline Magazine, Emmy Magazine, Los Angeles Business Journal, Pasadena Star News, Los Angeles Downtown News, and the Los Angeles Times in its Sports, Opinion and Entertainment sections and Sunday Magazine, among other publishers. Follow him on Twitter @TheGussReport. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CityWatch.) Prepped for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
Tags: Daniel Guss, @The Guss Report, Yale University, racism, historic black colleges, slave traders
