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I’m disappointed in this decision
Harding has made some great steps in the past weeks, including identifying their own mistakes and highlighting the voices of our Black brothers and sisters. I am grateful for this, and I want to walk with them as they strive to get better (1/17) https://twitter.com/hardingu/status/1275797296148611072
Harding has made some great steps in the past weeks, including identifying their own mistakes and highlighting the voices of our Black brothers and sisters. I am grateful for this, and I want to walk with them as they strive to get better (1/17) https://twitter.com/hardingu/status/1275797296148611072
Yet, I can’t help but feel like this decision hinders their steps forward. (2/17)
While a statue of Botham or his name on an academic program alongside more acknowlegements of Black alumni on campus would be a great thing to see on campus, the decision to leave the Benson name up makes the other efforts feel more like a consolation than a reconciliation (3)
We all live complicated lives, full of good and bad deeds and words. But not all of us are given the power and prestige that Benson had. (4/17)
Benson was a prominent Christian leader who should have represented the values that Christ stood for: unity, love for all human beings, the uplifting of the oppressed, the changing of hearts of the oppressors. (5/17)
In his most pressing hour, when the majority of his students and faculty stood behind integration before a court mandate, Benson stood firmly against it and delivered an argument based in racist ideology. (6/17)
Benson went on to do great things for the church and for Harding, including taking the gospel and more resources into other countries. He should be given respect and credit for those things. And yet his words are indelible in the defense of racist institutions. (7/17)
Those words will forever mar his legacy. And while in mercy and grace we can still honor the good, we should listen with love to those who are hurt by his words and actions. (8/17)
While Harding should honor Benson for what he did for the institution, they should replace his name with Botham Jean’s on their auditorium. The auditorium is the spiritual center of campus. Thousands of students gather there to worship every day. (9/17)
I believe no student should have to worship Jesus, the uplifter, in a building named after a man who wanted to continue oppression, who could not see past skin color to see that all souls created in the image of God should, and one day eternally shall, worship God in harmony. (10
Leaving Benson’s name on the building and consigning Black names to statues and plaques is not an adequate response to this issue. Direct action must be taken to show that we as an institution stand together in the unity Christ prayed for in John 17:20-26. (11/17)
Our actions to combat inequality shall not always be easy, but our love and our faith must make us put them into action, or else they are dead. (12/17)
I believe in Harding. I love Harding. Because I love them, I believe they can be and do so much more. (13/17)
I am a @HardingUEnglish alum who spent a considerable amount of time in the American Studies building, and I believe that should be an easy building to affix the name of someone like Dr. Howard Wright or Elijah Anthony, two of the first Black students to graduate from Harding. 14
These are necessary steps that I believe Harding will truly consider, but we must not let the easy decisions stifle our move toward loving justice. (15/17)
By the actions of students and alumni and faculty, we can still have the name of Botham Jean, the joyful song leader and dedicated brother of unity at Harding, attached to the house of worship where his voice resounded and resounds still in the hearts of those who heard it. (16)
May we find peace. May we grant mercy. May we have grace. But let us not forget to seek justice and reconciliation and love in our actions toward a better community of missions. (17/17)
