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Wilkie on Scruggs – from DM...

Wilkie on Scruggs – from DM article on changing name of Scruggs Hall

By: Magnolia Tribune - June 5, 2008

GOP Scruggs funds reallocated

Whether or not the campus music building, Richard and Diane Scruggs Hall, will retain its name is also a topic of discussion.

Curtis Wilkie, a former Boston Globe reporter and journalism professor at Ole Miss, who met Scruggs while writing an article about the lawyer, said he considers him a friend and does not think it would be appropriate to change the name of Scruggs Hall.

“You get into questions of trying to obliterate history: do you tear down the Confederate memorial or change the name of buildings of racist politicians?” Wilkie said.

Wilkie also noted that James Vardaman, who has a building named after him, advocated extreme racism against black people, and that the U.S. FBI building is named for “one of the most evil men in government history,” J. Edgar Hoover, he said. These men were much worse than Scruggs, he said.

Wilkie cited instances in which name alterations have occurred, such as when some New Orleans street names were changed from those of prominent white slave holders to Civil Rights leaders.

DMOnline
3/8/8

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Magnolia Tribune

This article was produced by Magnolia Tribune staff.