Renaming of the city University’s Cass building was approved after links to slavery surfaced.
City University’s Cass Building
The City University’s Cass building will soon be renamed, after talks about the reference Sir John Cass playing a huge part in the slave trade during the 18th-century.
In a unanimous decision by the City Council, Cass will be removed from the name of the business school of the City University.
The renaming of the City University’s Cass building was in good faith after receiving a donation from the Sir John Cass Foundation in 2002, amounting to five million pounds. The Sir John Cass Foundation was founded in 1748 and provided numerous scholarship grants to various university students.
Julia Palca of the City Council said in a statement:
We realize the uneasiness it has brought to the community especially black students for having a building named after an identity who played a big role in the history of slave trading. Our mission as an educational institution is to promote diversity, wholeness, and values. Thus, the University Council has finally decided to vote to rename the Cass Building.
Impact of BLM Movement
Just recently, a lot of establishments and institutions in the UK have moved to replace building names that are relevant to racism, slave trade, and discrimination. This includes the University of Liverpool and the Bank of England, to name a few.
The fight for racial and social inequality doesn’t end at the renaming of institutions, and it is just the beginning. Education institutions should be able to provide fair and unbiased opportunities to all students, not depending on race, skin color, or ethnicity.
The call to eradicate racism and inequality grows stronger during the Black Lives Matter Movement. The domino effect of George Floyd’s death has rippled all across the globe, especially in countries with a history of racism and slavery.
