Clemson Turns Against School's Racist Founder 'Pitchfork Ben'

[defcon4]

The man, for whom one of the school's buildings is named, boasted about killing black people.

Clemson University's Board of Trustees officially denounced one of the public South Carolina school's founders, Benjamin Tillman, in a resolution passed Friday.

Clemson had been pressured to stop honoring Tillman in the aftermath of the June killing of nine people at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina. The resolution passed unanimously.

One of the main buildings on campus is named for Tillman, a white supremacist who openly advocated and celebrated the killing of black people, and who was also a founding trustee of the university. His nickname was "Pitchfork Ben," and he served as both a South Carolina governor and U.S. senator.

The "views of Benjamin Tillman are repugnant to our values and our fundamental purpose," the trustees' resolution states. It goes on to call for a task force of students, staff, faculty and alumni to determine "how to best preserve and tell the complete history of Clemson."

Tillman is considered instrumental in founding Clemson University as a late 19th-century politician. Clemson is named for Thomas G. Clemson, son-in-law of John C. Calhoun. In his will, Clemson named Tillman as a lifetime trustee for the school.

However, the Board of Trustees' resolution conceded that "recent events in our state and nationally have prompted concerns," including from Clemson faculty leaders. The resolution stated:

Benjamin Tillman was also known to be by his own admission an ardent racist and led a campaign of terror against African Americans in South Carolina that included intimidation and violence of which he boasted about publicly; and For some members of our university family Benjamin Tillman’s legacy included not only contributions to Clemson University but also oppression, terror and hate.​

A state law known as the Heritage Act prevents the university from renaming the building without a vote of two-thirds of the legislature.

More: Clemson Officially Denounces 'Pitchfork Ben,' A Racist Founder Of The School

I applaud Clemson. Hopefully more institutions with racist origins will follow their lead.

War is brewing. People are pushing this issue way too far. It's going to get ugly, very ugly soon.

War, you mean like what happened when some crazy whitey kid killed nine ******* and the town exploded in a total race war? Oh right, I forgot, they came out, all races, and walked hand in hand instead. Sorry, my bad.

Case in point BTW.

Nope. That's nowhere near what I meant. Try again.

Planning on losing another Civil War then? Knock yourself out.

Teh Saaaaauth will raaaaaaaaze agin!

Rejoined with the Dark Side? Well, old habits die hard.. There is always hope though, the tiny spark you had a while ago may reignite and brings you out to the Light.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

The man, for whom one of the school's buildings is named, boasted about killing black people.

Clemson University's Board of Trustees officially denounced one of the public South Carolina school's founders, Benjamin Tillman, in a resolution passed Friday.

Clemson had been pressured to stop honoring Tillman in the aftermath of the June killing of nine people at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina. The resolution passed unanimously.

One of the main buildings on campus is named for Tillman, a white supremacist who openly advocated and celebrated the killing of black people, and who was also a founding trustee of the university. His nickname was "Pitchfork Ben," and he served as both a South Carolina governor and U.S. senator.

The "views of Benjamin Tillman are repugnant to our values and our fundamental purpose," the trustees' resolution states. It goes on to call for a task force of students, staff, faculty and alumni to determine "how to best preserve and tell the complete history of Clemson."

Tillman is considered instrumental in founding Clemson University as a late 19th-century politician. Clemson is named for Thomas G. Clemson, son-in-law of John C. Calhoun. In his will, Clemson named Tillman as a lifetime trustee for the school.

However, the Board of Trustees' resolution conceded that "recent events in our state and nationally have prompted concerns," including from Clemson faculty leaders. The resolution stated:

Benjamin Tillman was also known to be by his own admission an ardent racist and led a campaign of terror against African Americans in South Carolina that included intimidation and violence of which he boasted about publicly; and For some members of our university family Benjamin Tillman’s legacy included not only contributions to Clemson University but also oppression, terror and hate.​

A state law known as the Heritage Act prevents the university from renaming the building without a vote of two-thirds of the legislature.

More: Clemson Officially Denounces 'Pitchfork Ben,' A Racist Founder Of The School

I applaud Clemson. Hopefully more institutions with racist origins will follow their lead.

Sounds like FDR's Tuskegee Experiments

 

[CrusaderFrank]

The White Pointy Hoods aren't going to like that one bit. They're still pissed we took the pitchforks away.

Yet its your Party has the Klansmen as SCOTUS Judges and Senate Majority Leaders

 

[Lakhota]

There is no reason to take down statues or rename buildings. Alone, the knowledge of the person after whom the building was named or a statue was made and a decision to never ever in life be like that disgusting individual is a positive learning experience all on it's own.

I agree. Racist statues of the past serve as an embarrassing reminder. However, I can see why Clemson would want to rid itself of all traces of such racist scum as ole Pitchfork Ben.

 

[PaintMyHouse]

The White Pointy Hoods aren't going to like that one bit. They're still pissed we took the pitchforks away.

Yet its your Party has the Klansmen as SCOTUS Judges and Senate Majority Leaders

The racists now vote for your side. Congrats on that.

 

[reconmark]

The man, for whom one of the school's buildings is named, boasted about killing black people.

Clemson University's Board of Trustees officially denounced one of the public South Carolina school's founders, Benjamin Tillman, in a resolution passed Friday.

Clemson had been pressured to stop honoring Tillman in the aftermath of the June killing of nine people at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina. The resolution passed unanimously.

One of the main buildings on campus is named for Tillman, a white supremacist who openly advocated and celebrated the killing of black people, and who was also a founding trustee of the university. His nickname was "Pitchfork Ben," and he served as both a South Carolina governor and U.S. senator.

The "views of Benjamin Tillman are repugnant to our values and our fundamental purpose," the trustees' resolution states. It goes on to call for a task force of students, staff, faculty and alumni to determine "how to best preserve and tell the complete history of Clemson."

Tillman is considered instrumental in founding Clemson University as a late 19th-century politician. Clemson is named for Thomas G. Clemson, son-in-law of John C. Calhoun. In his will, Clemson named Tillman as a lifetime trustee for the school.

However, the Board of Trustees' resolution conceded that "recent events in our state and nationally have prompted concerns," including from Clemson faculty leaders. The resolution stated:

Benjamin Tillman was also known to be by his own admission an ardent racist and led a campaign of terror against African Americans in South Carolina that included intimidation and violence of which he boasted about publicly; and For some members of our university family Benjamin Tillman’s legacy included not only contributions to Clemson University but also oppression, terror and hate.​

A state law known as the Heritage Act prevents the university from renaming the building without a vote of two-thirds of the legislature.

More: Clemson Officially Denounces 'Pitchfork Ben,' A Racist Founder Of The School

I applaud Clemson. Hopefully more institutions with racist origins will follow their lead.

War is brewing. People are pushing this issue way too far. It's going to get ugly, very ugly soon.

Ready to fight as soon as I lose this gut!!!

 

[Statistikhengst]

There is no reason to take down statues or rename buildings. Alone, the knowledge of the person after whom the building was named or a statue was made and a decision to never ever in life be like that disgusting individual is a positive learning experience all on it's own.

Removing anything is not going to make things better. People are looking at the wrong answers to racial issues in this country.

Indeed. I think we both said the same thing.

You may now set your phaser to "stun".

 

[JakeStarkey]

No need to rename buildings or take down statues or dig up the down.

Telling the truth, however, is vitally important.

Senator Tillman was a bad guy. The Browns are perfect example of the stain of slavery in America.

Tell the truth. Not hard.

Sonny Clark, no one is going to rise up against each other. That's silly talk.

 

[Katzndogz]

It's pretty clear that the idea of removing the statue is coming from politically correct pressure.

 

[tinydancer]

This Ben Tillman? The Democrat Ben Tillman?

"Benjamin Ryan Tillman (born Benjamin Ryan Tillman, Jr.; August 11, 1847 – July 3, 1918) was a politician of the Democratic Party who was Governor of South Carolina from 1890 to 1894, and a United States Senator from 1895 until his death in 1918.

A white supremacist who often spoke out against blacks, Tillman led a paramilitary group of Red Shirts during South Carolina's violent 1876 election. On the floor of the U.S. Senate, he frequently ridiculed blacks, and boasted of having helped to kill them during that campaign."

Benjamin Tillman - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

 

[tinydancer]

There is no reason to take down statues or rename buildings. Alone, the knowledge of the person after whom the building was named or a statue was made and a decision to never ever in life be like that disgusting individual is a positive learning experience all on it's own.

I agree. Racist statues of the past serve as an embarrassing reminder. However, I can see why Clemson would want to rid itself of all traces of such racist scum as ole Pitchfork Ben.

If I was a Democrat I would be ashamed of this reminder of my party's past as well.

 

[Statistikhengst]

There is no reason to take down statues or rename buildings. Alone, the knowledge of the person after whom the building was named or a statue was made and a decision to never ever in life be like that disgusting individual is a positive learning experience all on it's own.

I agree. Racist statues of the past serve as an embarrassing reminder. However, I can see why Clemson would want to rid itself of all traces of such racist scum as ole Pitchfork Ben.

If I was a Democrat I would be ashamed of this reminder of my party's past as well.

Are you really going to go there, knowing that the Democratic Party and the Republican Party essentially swapped clientele in the 1960s through the 1970s? Really?

 

[JakeStarkey]

The conservative Ben Tillman; yes, that one.

All conservatives are ashamed of him.

 

[reconmark]

There is no reason to take down statues or rename buildings. Alone, the knowledge of the person after whom the building was named or a statue was made and a decision to never ever in life be like that disgusting individual is a positive learning experience all on it's own.

I agree. Racist statues of the past serve as an embarrassing reminder. However, I can see why Clemson would want to rid itself of all traces of such racist scum as ole Pitchfork Ben.

If I was a Democrat I would be ashamed of this reminder of my party's past as well.

Are you really going to go there, knowing that the Democratic Party and the Republican Party essentially swapped clientele in the 1960s through the 1970s? Really?

Let's be honest, the current mode of deflection by Conservatives on this board and elsewhere is to play word and title games while ignoring actions.

Unless Conservatives want to willingly walk around and parade their historical stupidity, they are well aware that the racist Democrats of yesteryear are well entrenched in today's Republican Party.

 

[Statistikhengst]

There is no reason to take down statues or rename buildings. Alone, the knowledge of the person after whom the building was named or a statue was made and a decision to never ever in life be like that disgusting individual is a positive learning experience all on it's own.

I agree. Racist statues of the past serve as an embarrassing reminder. However, I can see why Clemson would want to rid itself of all traces of such racist scum as ole Pitchfork Ben.

If I was a Democrat I would be ashamed of this reminder of my party's past as well.

Are you really going to go there, knowing that the Democratic Party and the Republican Party essentially swapped clientele in the 1960s through the 1970s? Really?

Let's be honest, the current mode of deflection by Conservatives on this board and elsewhere is to play word and title games while ignoring actions.

Unless Conservatives want to willingly walk around and parade their historical stupidity, they are well aware that the racist Democrats of yesteryear are well entrenched in today's Republican Party.

Oui. Da. Ja. Si. Keyn. Yes!

 

[Sonny Clark]

There is no reason to take down statues or rename buildings. Alone, the knowledge of the person after whom the building was named or a statue was made and a decision to never ever in life be like that disgusting individual is a positive learning experience all on it's own.

I agree. Racist statues of the past serve as an embarrassing reminder. However, I can see why Clemson would want to rid itself of all traces of such racist scum as ole Pitchfork Ben.

If I was a Democrat I would be ashamed of this reminder of my party's past as well.

Are you really going to go there, knowing that the Democratic Party and the Republican Party essentially swapped clientele in the 1960s through the 1970s? Really?

Let's be honest, the current mode of deflection by Conservatives on this board and elsewhere is to play word and title games while ignoring actions.

Unless Conservatives want to willingly walk around and parade their historical stupidity, they are well aware that the racist Democrats of yesteryear are well entrenched in today's Republican Party.

 

[tinydancer]

There is no reason to take down statues or rename buildings. Alone, the knowledge of the person after whom the building was named or a statue was made and a decision to never ever in life be like that disgusting individual is a positive learning experience all on it's own.

I agree. Racist statues of the past serve as an embarrassing reminder. However, I can see why Clemson would want to rid itself of all traces of such racist scum as ole Pitchfork Ben.

If I was a Democrat I would be ashamed of this reminder of my party's past as well.

Are you really going to go there, knowing that the Democratic Party and the Republican Party essentially swapped clientele in the 1960s through the 1970s? Really?

Oh I've heard that fairly tale spun by the Democrats to attempt to cover their racist past. Better than the Brothers Grimm.

Once upon a time, pixie dust fell one day on America and lo and behold the parties and their electorate switched sides.

 

[tinydancer]

There is no reason to take down statues or rename buildings. Alone, the knowledge of the person after whom the building was named or a statue was made and a decision to never ever in life be like that disgusting individual is a positive learning experience all on it's own.

I agree. Racist statues of the past serve as an embarrassing reminder. However, I can see why Clemson would want to rid itself of all traces of such racist scum as ole Pitchfork Ben.

If I was a Democrat I would be ashamed of this reminder of my party's past as well.

Are you really going to go there, knowing that the Democratic Party and the Republican Party essentially swapped clientele in the 1960s through the 1970s? Really?

Let's be honest, the current mode of deflection by Conservatives on this board and elsewhere is to play word and title games while ignoring actions.

Unless Conservatives want to willingly walk around and parade their historical stupidity, they are well aware that the racist Democrats of yesteryear are well entrenched in today's Republican Party.

Prove it. Give us names of the newbie racists of the Republicans that could even touch the Democrats of old regarding racism, forming of the KKK, Jim Crow laws and more.

 

[reconmark]

There is no reason to take down statues or rename buildings. Alone, the knowledge of the person after whom the building was named or a statue was made and a decision to never ever in life be like that disgusting individual is a positive learning experience all on it's own.

I agree. Racist statues of the past serve as an embarrassing reminder. However, I can see why Clemson would want to rid itself of all traces of such racist scum as ole Pitchfork Ben.

If I was a Democrat I would be ashamed of this reminder of my party's past as well.

Are you really going to go there, knowing that the Democratic Party and the Republican Party essentially swapped clientele in the 1960s through the 1970s? Really?

Let's be honest, the current mode of deflection by Conservatives on this board and elsewhere is to play word and title games while ignoring actions.

Unless Conservatives want to willingly walk around and parade their historical stupidity, they are well aware that the racist Democrats of yesteryear are well entrenched in today's Republican Party.

Prove it. Give us names of the newbie racists of the Republicans that could even touch the Democrats of old regarding racism, forming of the KKK, Jim Crow laws and more.

LOL...you want individual people's names to an ideology???
I'm sure you have been called a stupid ass numerous times...

 

[reconmark]

There is no reason to take down statues or rename buildings. Alone, the knowledge of the person after whom the building was named or a statue was made and a decision to never ever in life be like that disgusting individual is a positive learning experience all on it's own.

I agree. Racist statues of the past serve as an embarrassing reminder. However, I can see why Clemson would want to rid itself of all traces of such racist scum as ole Pitchfork Ben.

If I was a Democrat I would be ashamed of this reminder of my party's past as well.

Are you really going to go there, knowing that the Democratic Party and the Republican Party essentially swapped clientele in the 1960s through the 1970s? Really?

Let's be honest, the current mode of deflection by Conservatives on this board and elsewhere is to play word and title games while ignoring actions.

Unless Conservatives want to willingly walk around and parade their historical stupidity, they are well aware that the racist Democrats of yesteryear are well entrenched in today's Republican Party.

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