Say what you will about the many differences between USC and Clemson — we have a lot in common.
We both have a deep love for college football. We tout our respective academic programs. We have thriving Greek life populations.
And, most tellingly, we both have central public buildings named for segregationist demagogues.
Clemson’s iconic Tillman Hall is named after Reconstruction-era segregationist and racist Ben Tillman. And it hardly needs saying that the namesake of our Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center was the most visible political opponent of the civil rights movement in his time.
Why this matters should be obvious to anyone whose been keeping up on what’s going on at Clemson in the past few months. The ideas and goals which fueled both Tillman and Strom are still alive and well in South Carolina schools to different degrees of visibility.
After the much-publicized “Cripmas” fraternity party and the racist Yik Yak comments aimed at pro-Michael Brown demonstrators last year, Clemson has become a stage for the kind of conversation about race that colleges — especially in the South — should be having right now.
Because the fact is, USC is in no position to gloat about how we think about race.
The kind of comments that appear on USC’s Yik Yak and, less often, public student twitter accounts go to show that we’re a long way away from becoming an ideal and equal public space.
It’s not hard to find examples of this kind of stuff if you’re looking for it. In the past, when NPHC organizations have held events in a public space, the comments of some students on Twitter were just as indefensible as anything on Clemson’s Yik Yak.
The men whose names are etched into our buildings and the people who tarnish their USC’s name by peddling hate share the same fundamental values.
This is no coincidence. The through-line between the figures we see in history books and those we see on Facebook are in the names of our institutions.
Clemson, with the “Cripmas” development, has turned towards the question of whether Tillman is a figure worth remembering in stone.
The question for USC now is whether or not it will take an event like that for a similar conversation to begin.