Jack Cater

1671 Glendale Circle

Auburn, Alabama 36830
334.414.4614
jrcatercrimson.ua.edu

April 29th, 2019

Dr. Stuart Bell

President of the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
Box 801700
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487

Dear Dr. Bell,

I would first like to thank you for taking the time to read my letter. Your consideration shows
your support to the student body and genuine concern for the thoughts and inputs of the students.
Given that you are busy and have limited time, I have made my letter clear and concise.

Recently in the news, the removal of Confederate monuments has become a heated topic. Since
the University of Alabama has several buildings named after Confederate sympathizers and a
stone monument in front of Gorgas library, I feel that this topic directly relates to our university.
While I understand that the names of the buildings and the stone have been a part of the
university for a long time, their existence is offensive to African-Americans and any monuments
such as the stone should be removed or relocated to a less visible place.

Confederate monuments are often in highly visible areas in communities across the south and
they only represent a small portion of the population’s beliefs. This holds true for the naming of
buildings such as Nott Hall and the stone monument at the University of Alabama. When the
decisions were made for the buildings to be named, Confederate sympathizers would have held a
disproportionate amount of power in the State of Alabama and the University of Alabama. The
issue of confederate symbolism in Alabama has been brought up in legal issues in the past and
can be related to Confederate flag that George Wallace flew at the state capitol building.
According to James Forman in “The Yale Law Journal”, “An examination of historical
background in Alabama produces further evidence of an intent to discriminate. George Wallace,
the person ultimately responsible for raising the flag in 1963, was engaged in a coordinated
campaign to fight integration and black equality” (Forman 505). Forman then proceeds to
emphasize the importance of “discriminatory intent” when considering the legal issues
concerned with visible flags and monuments. While contributors to the university such as Josiah
Nott would help to further science and education in the State of Alabama, their intents about race
were often misguided and unfortunately were shaped from common racial misconceptions in that
era. According to the Encyclopedia of Alabama,
“From 1843 until the outbreak of the Civil War, while continuing to pursue his medical
career and writings, Nott also wrote extensively on race. His main contention was that
there had been multiple creations (a theory known as polygenesis) that had produced
superior and inferior races. African Americans, he argued, were destined to permanent
inferiority, and some races, such as the American Indians, were doomed to extinction.”
(Horsman).
Although Nott could be considered a brilliant scientist and physician, his name and others who
shared is views should be removed from public campus buildings because their stances on race
are unacceptable by today’s standards and contradict the beliefs of the majority of students on
campus.

There is no doubt that Confederate sympathizers have left a major mark on campus. However,
public opinion and the student body has changed dramatically in the past five decades. It is now
time to let the current students and staff shape public memory. Jonathan Lieb discusses the
implications of the battle over preservation of culture in the south. “ Thus, the region arguably
contains two groups or ‘nations’ with divergent visions of the past, present and future of the
South, both competing for the right to culturally define the same space” (Lieb 303). While
Confederate sympathizers had the ability to culturally define the University of Alabama in the
past century, as current faculty and students we now have the power to change the building
names such as Nott hall to more culturally appropriate icons. There is a multitude of Alabamians
who fought for equality in the nation through the bus boycott and peaceful protesting. Buildings
such as Nott Hall that uphold men who advocated for the scientific inferiority of other races are
an insult to these people.

If the decision is made to change the names of the buildings and remove the stone, I believe it
should be done respectfully and that their records should be properly preserved for the sake of
historical integrity. Having come from a family that has lived in this state for generations and
supported the University of Alabama, I feel nothing but pride for this institution. While we might
not always be proud of our past, it is our responsibility to learn from it and correct the many
mistakes that were made. By replacing the names, we can take a step forward in acknowledging
our past.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration. Upon reading this letter I hope that I have
effectively presented an opinion that many students and faculty have at the University of
Alabama. While I understand this topic is not all your decision, I feel that you are in the position
of representing the faculty and students and presenting them. I wish you and your family well
and a great summer! (Below I have attached citations of sources I used for your reference.)

Thank you,
Jack Cater
 Works Cited
Forman, James. "Driving Dixie Down: Removing the Confederate Flag from Southern

State Capitols." The Yale Law Journal 101.2 (1991): 505-526.

Horsman, Reginald. “Josiah C. Nott”. Encyclopedia of Alabama. 2008.

Leib, Jonathan I., Gerald R. Webster, and Roberta H. Webster. "Rebel with a cause?

Iconography and public memory in the Southern United States." GeoJournal 52.2

(2000): 303-310.