History will not look kindly upon Donald Trump and his cruel ripping of refugee families apart or his rash of lies or his deference to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The people around POTUS have already begun to fall under that umbrella of shame, too.
Two well-known historians at the University of Virginia in Arlington (UVA) have resigned in protest over the school’s plan to hire one of Trump’s former aides, Marc Short. William Hitchcock and Melvyn Leffler turned in their resignation letter from the university’s Miller Center. Their joint resignation read, according to POLITICO:
‘By not speaking out at the time, by not emphasizing the threats to human decency posed by the public display of Nazi symbols and racist diatribes in our own neighborhood, Mr. Short was complicit in the erosion of our civic discourse and showed an appalling indifference to the civility of our own city and university.’
They wrote:
‘Short has been a partisan activist during his entire professional career. He has associated himself with people and institutions who disregard, circumvent and even violate the norms and laws that are fundamental to civil discourse and democratic politics.’
Director and CEO of the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, William Antholis, released a statement that read:
‘As much as I respect the depth of feelings on this issue, the Miller Center’s core focus on the presidency, our commitment to nonpartisanship and our demonstrated ability to promote civil discourse must remain our principal responsibility, especially in trying times.’
The historians said that Short was inconsistent with the Miller Center’s objectives:
‘By associating himself with an administration that shows no respect for truth, he has contributed to the erosion of civil discourse and democratic norms that are essential to democratic governance and that are central to the mission of the Miller Center.’
Short indicated that he was “sympathetic to the pain in the community,” and pointed to Trump’s statement, which read:
‘Racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.’
Antholis continued in his statement saying “the loss of any Miller Center faculty or staff member saddens me.”
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
