Richard Bucci: Renaming buildings doesn’t end racism

Regarding the March 26 news article “Crowd pushes UNC to rename hall”: Do not rename Saunders Hall. Erasing a name off a building does not stop racism.

Should we erase 12 of the first 18 presidents of the United States for owning slaves, from Washington to Grant? Should we erase all documentation of the Holocaust and pretend it never happened? Of course not! It is a part of our history, but it’s there to remind us that our history is not so pleasant, and we should never let it happen again. I don’t agree with the KKK nor any racist group in the past, present or future.

I have heard it’s about the future of the university. There will never be a future without remembering where we came from. So they want to change a name, do they really think it makes racism go away? First they have to change their heart.

This story was originally published March 29, 2015 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Richard Bucci: Renaming buildings doesn’t end racism."