'Black Lives Matter' Gets One Right: Woodrow Wilson Was a Terrible Racist

The Black Lives Matter movement has frequently been criticized by conservatives, and for good reason. The organization is undeniably radical and practices race-based intimidation. For instance, slightly less than two weeks ago, activists attacked white students studying in a library at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Their “sin,” apparently, was their skin — the white students were born racists and criminals per the eyes of Black Lives Matter. The innocent students were slammed against the walls, cursed at, and berated for their supposed racial privilege.

Having said that, even a broken clock is right twice a day. In subject matter, if not tactics, Black Lives Matter got it right for once:

Black Lives Matter activists at Princeton University have taken over the president’s office and say they won’t leave until the school acknowledges former U.S. president Woodrow Wilson as a racist and renames all buildings currently honoring him on campus.

In a statement, the students said:

WE DEMAND the university administration publicly acknowledge the racist legacy of Woodrow Wilson and how he impacted campus policy and culture. We also demand that steps be made to rename Wilson residential college, the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy and International Affairs, and any other building named after him. Furthermore, we would like the mural of Wilson to be removed from Wilcox Dining Hall.

After a 32-hour sit-in, the university announced it had agreed to begin a process to consider expunging the honors bestowed on Wilson from campus.

I hate to say it, as the Black Lives Matter movement is one of the more horrific political movements to appear in the U.S. in recent years, but these students are correct about Wilson’s racism. In the early 20th century, race relations were slowly improving. Enter Woodrow Wilson: the ultra-progressive president was a vicious racist, and blacks would suffer tremendously under his leadership.

Wilson considered blacks to be subhuman. He was a supporter of the KKK, an organization that was waning at the time. Said Glenn Beck on Friday of Wilson’s effect on the Klan:

Wilson brought it back. He re-segregated America.

Beck continued, correctly claiming that Wilson “was part of the Margaret Sanger, ‘let’s kill off the inferior race'” movement. He also correctly claimed that Wilson re-segregated the military.

Wilson even wrote a book that served as the foundation for the infamous movie The Birth of a Nation.

Princeton should rescind every honor given to this vile man.

But to be consistent, the university must also make an effort to explain to the Black Lives Matter students that Wilson’s racism was intrinsically linked to his Progressivism. The dangerous political ideology believes all individuals are servants to the state; I don’t expect that correcting this side of the Wilson story will be prioritized over there anytime soon.