In an op-ed in the Washington Post in reaction to the announcement by the board of trustees, Colbert I. King lays out the answer to this question very clearly.
With deep reflection upon the Washington and Lee’s board decision, I better understand how advocates of Jim Crow and champions of segregation as the law of the land continue, to this day, to enjoy status of great respect and admiration. I also see how easily measures to restrict voting — which fall disproportionately on Black and brown voters — are making their way through state legislatures and being defended in Congress.
Because, when you get right down to it, whose ox is being gored?
That’s why Lee’s name stays up, while voting rights protections are going down, and the struggle never ends.
King in his piece
Well said sir.
This is how the rest of the country now views the University with very clear eyes. As it is. The largest confederate memorial in the United States and the most recalcitrant.
This is why we fight.