Don’t remove Thomas Nelson’s name from community college

Time to move beyond retribution and revenge, and move toward understanding, forgiveness and reconciliation

I joined Thomas Nelson Community College as dean of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in 2000 and retired in 2011 as professor of physics. Prior to applying to TNCC I had never heard of Thomas Nelson but upon reading his biography I was surprised to learn that he is considered a Founding Father. He was a member of the Virginia General Assembly, governor, member of the Continental Congress, signer of the Declaration of Independence, a general in the militia at the siege of Yorktown, and, yes, a slave owner.

When I taught my introductory physics courses, I would begin by asking my students to try to imagine what it was like to live in the 15th century. I asked them how they would explain basic observations such as the daily and annual motion of the sun, moon, planets and stars and eclipses; why do some things fall toward the earth and some things appear to go upward; is the earth the center of the cosmos, is the cosmos finite or infinite, and, in general, what causes motion and how would they describe it.

We would then discuss the ideas and concepts inherited mostly from the Greeks to explain these phenomena which eventually proved to be inadequate in dealing with the new theories and discoveries of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and Newton leading to the scientific revolution of the 17th century. I did this in order to teach my students how difficult it is to shift from one context, world view or paradigm to a new one. Sometimes it is virtually impossible, but to do otherwise would be ahistorical.

The argument presented in the Daily Press for changing the name of TNCC is that Nelson was a slave owner. According to history Professor Stacey Schneider “He’s got this impressive resume … in 1967” but now “… he is all of those things. But on top of that, he is a slave owner.” As if we didn’t know in 1967, when the college was named, that he was a slave owner.

Nelson was born and raised in a culture that not only accepted slavery but promoted and eventually fought a civil war to keep it because it was in their own social and economic interest. We know all that. To look back now from a 21st century perspective and pass judgement on them is the essence of being ahistorical, i.e., applying our knowledge and values of today to people and events of the past. It is exactly like judging the people of the 15th century based on our knowledge and values gained from modern science today.

Schneider says that the college’s name is the product of a particular context in the late 1960s. If that is the case, Nelson was also the product of a particular context in the 1770s. But history is not, as she says, like her old prom dress that does not fit her anymore. She can alter the dress to fit her body or alter her body to fit the dress, but we cannot alter history to fit our wishes today.

I suggest that the TNCC renaming committee not follow the examples of John Tyler and Patrick Henry Community Colleges, that it has the courage to stand up to the current rage of renaming buildings and tearing down statues, and not recommend a change of name for Thomas Nelson Community College to Chancellor Glenn DuBois.

Having worked at TNCC for more than 11 years I never had the impression that the name was a “symbol of systemic racism.” On the contrary, I thought the college was a beacon of hope and opportunity for students, faculty and staff of all races and ethnicities. I suggest that it is time to move beyond anger, retribution and revenge, and move toward understanding, forgiveness and reconciliation.