How do you condemn racism on behalf of the global community while sitting in a building named after a racist? Some would argue it’s a challenge the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) needs to face up to. The controversy is regarding the UN rights office built in the mid-1870s on the shores of Lake Geneva which, since 1924, has been named the Palais Wilson, honouring former United States president Woodrow Wilson.
Why the controversy?
Wilson’s racism was well-documented throughout his life. For example, in a 1902 book on American history, the former president described “men of the lowest class” from Italy and “of the meaner sort” from Hungary and Poland. Hence, although Wilson is widely commemorated, his connection to the UN rights office poses specific hurdles, as much of OHCHR’s mandate involves defending the rights of racial and ethnic minorities.
‘A man of his time?’
At Princeton, a black student group in 2015 raised concerns about the university’s school of international affairs bearing the president’s name. Princeton established a committee that studied submissions from historians, including evidence that Wilson was in fact a reactionary when it came to equality for blacks, adopting policies that intensified segregation. “We cannot simply excuse Wilson’s racist politicking as him being ‘a man of his time’,” Johns Hopkins University historian N.D.B Connolly wrote to the committee.
‘A man of many parts’
In an interview, UN rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said he would welcome a discussion about Wilson’s link to the rights office headquarters. “Clearly president Wilson is a man with many parts,” Zeid said. “Were it not for him, it is unlikely there would have been a League of Nations and the UN to follow,” he added. “And yes, his attitude to racism was reprehensible, certainly seen in today’s light, but maybe not just limited to today. At the time as well.” He added that input from Wilson experts could “provide the right approach as to how and whether there should be any recognition or not.”