At Indiana University, a historically accurate mural from the 1930s that includes images of the Ku Klux Klan will remain hanging in a classroom, despite Black Student Union objections.
Chancellor Sharon Stephens Brehm made this announcement Monday, stating that she was "convinced that moving or covering the mural would be morally wrong because it would, in effect, do what (the artist) refused to do. That is it would hide the shameful aspects of Indiana's past,"
She did agree, however, to increase efforts to explain the mural to incoming students.
A plaque hangs near the mural to explain that the piece is not intended to glorify the Klan. Additionally, professors are supposed to show a video explaining the mural at the start of each semester.
Chancellor Brehm's decision is honorable both because of the risk involved in dealing with such an inflammatory issue and because she held the state of Indiana accountable for its history, rather than hiding a piece of it.
"I understand why it's not being taken down," said Shannon Walden, political action chairman for the Black Student Union. "I think the mural is now going to serve as much more of a teaching tool."
We do not omit the Holocaust from history, nor do we omit the massacres at Amritsar or Mi Lai. With America's sordid past that includes a Trail of Tears and an Underground Railroad, educators need all the tools they can get. Here, the best tool for teaching American history is truth.
Harsh as it can be for some to behold, the greater injustice would be to forget.
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