When I was teaching The Antelope last week, discussion turned to other cases involving slavery where judges made statements that separated morality from law and also that justified the institution of slavery. It wasn't long before Justice Thomas Ruffin's opinion in State v. Mann came up. And that reminded me that I don't think I've yet posted a picture of Ruffin Hall on the UNC campus. (I thought it was named for both Thomas Ruffin and his son, Thomas Ruffin, Jr., but the UNC website says just the first Justice Ruffin.)
In light of the extraordinary acts that Penn State took this week in pursuit of forgetting what happened on that campus, I've been wondering if other schools will start episodes of forgetting on their campuses. I suppose Ruffin Hall would be high on many people's list of buildings to rename, even if not mine.
I have some more thoughts on the appropriateness -- or inappropriateness -- of building renaming here.
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