Should UC Berkeley Law School Change the Name of its Building?

Hat tip The College Fix


The building that houses the UC Berkeley School of Law will have a name change as desired by law school dean Erwin Chemerinsky. The building, which has long been named after a 19th century San Francisco attorney named John Boalt, will have a new name due to things Boalt wrote long ago by Chinese and blacks.

https://www.thecollegefix.com/uc-berkeley-to-remove-historic-name-associated-with-law-school-citing-racism/

First of all, I don't know anything about the late Mr. Boalt. In an op-ed in the Daily Californian, Chemerinksy explains his reasoning. This followed a letter he sent to the law school in November.

The comments attributed to Boalt are certainly disturbing and reflect many prevalent attitudes about Chinese and black people in the 19th century. It is understandable that the law school would not want to be associated with that.

It also raises the issue (addressed by Chemerinsky) that we honor historical Americans like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson even though they were actual slave owners. Earl Warren, the former governor of California and liberal Supreme Court icon, was a leading figure as California attorney general when Japanese-Americans on the West Coast were put in internment camps during World War II.

I have to give Chemerinsky the benefit of the doubt here because I don't know enough to really take issue. I do take issue with Chemerinsky's gratuitous slap at conservatives.

"I was surprised that there was more of a political reaction to this than I expected: Those who indicated that they were politically conservative overwhelmingly favored keeping the name."

The implication is pretty clear.

In my view, Chemerinsky is a liberal ideologue who forms his legal opinions accordingly. As the UC Irvine law school's first dean, he created an institution dedicated to churning out liberal activist lawyers. Statements like the above only serve to perpetuate the canard that conservatives are racists.