Imagine if a major political party’s presidential candidate sent tweets calling African-Americans a “worthless race” and referring to black legislators as “a mass of ignorance and barbarism.” Imagine that same candidate saying that the idea of women voting is “unnatural” and “unwise.”
 
Well, a presidential candidate did say those outrageous things – but it was long before Twitter, or even the telephone, were invented. The year was 1872. And the candidate, unfortunately, was Horace Greeley.
 
Most of us who attend the school named in his honor know very little about the man himself. We’ve seen the statue off the Saw Mill, sure, and might be aware that he owned a newspaper, was an outspoken champion of freeing the slaves, and might (or might not) have uttered the phrase “Go West, young man” – advice that summed up America’s expansionist fever in the mid-19thCentury.
 
But further study reveals that Horace Greeley was a man whose name should no longer adorn our school.
 
It’s true that Greeley courageously used his ownership of the New York Tribune, the nation’s largest and most influential newspaper, to advocate for emancipation of the slaves and, even more controversially, for the right of black men in New York to vote.
 
Once the slaves were freed, however, and the 14thand 15th Amendments to the Constitution guaranteed them citizenship, equal protection under the law, and the (men’s) right to vote, Greeley felt the job was done. This despite a concerted, bloody, effort by many white Southerners to deprive the newly freed blacks of their hard-won rights. This period, Reconstruction, saw the birth of the Ku Klux Klan, which terrorized thousands of black men, women, and children along with whites who supported the exercise of their rights. The collusion of sheriffs, judges, and politicians (who were often Klansmen themselves) allowed the Klan to run wild and escape justice.
 
Only the aggressive intervention of President Ulysses S. Grant – who dispatched Federal troops to occupy numerous Southern states, and created the Department of Justice specifically to round up and destroy the Klan – restored a measure of order that allowed black citizens to begin building lives for themselves on an equal basis with their former masters.
 
Horace Greeley ran for president in 1872 in order to undo those vital protections. He ran against Grant’s re-election on a platform of pulling the troops and prosecutors out of the South and leaving the blacks to fend for themselves, and was willing to say anything in order to win. Everyone at the time, including Greeley, knew what retreat would mean: revival of the Klan’s murderous tactics, and the violent subjugation of black citizens under whites.
 
Why would Greeley pivot from outspoken champion of freedom to accomplice in its suppression, a “tool in the hands of Southern despots” according to one of his former allies in the emancipation movement? Was he willing to sacrifice all principles in the pursuit of power? Or was it his notorious mercurial streak taking hold – he was forever changing positions on important issues, and getting into arguments with Abraham Lincoln and, later, Grant.
 
Nearly 150 years later, it’s difficult to parse Greeley’s motivations. But it’s not hard to understand his words: “Worthless race.” “Ignorance." "Barbarism.” And when a powerful man tells women “not now” – as Greeley repeatedly did to female leaders seeking the vote – well, we know clearly what they mean by that as well.
 
You might say, “Those were just the times he lived in.” But the #MeToo movement has shown that yesterday’s norms don’t get a free pass today. And we’re still seeing echoes of those prehistoric attitudes in the dog whistles of politicians cynically seeking to mobilize racist voters. Just last week, anonymous robocallers telephoned thousands of Florida residents, speaking in a mocking voice with jungle music playing in the background – in order to denigrate a black man running for governor. With the ugliest part of our nation’s history rearing its head all around us today, it’s urgent for Chappaqua to make clear where we stand.
 
You might say, “Horace Greeley is a nationally renowned school. Changing the name will mean colleges won’t know where we’re applying from.” But what do we want to be renowned for? Championing a bigot, or asserting our belief in equality for all men and women? Our reputation will grow even greater for having taken a stand.
 
A group of us Greeley students has formed #FixTheName, to petition the Chappaqua Board of Education to explore a new name for our high school. Chappaqua’s rich history – both recent and more distant – suggests any number of possible names. Please add your name to our petition, right here.
 
Horace Greeley was often on the right side of critical issues, and often not. He was one of the most important figures of his time. But the positions he expressed back then about the newly freed black citizens, and about women, have no place being endorsed in our time.
 
Let’s get together and #FixTheName.