Writings ” deeply hurtful and disturbing “. These words are from Fresno campus president Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, shared in a statement that followed the decision to rename the library. ” I believe that the name of a building or any significant area of campus should align with our shared values, and reflect our spirit of curiosity, diversity and honesty. “, he adds.
« Noisy, dirty, smelly, awful »
This name change comes after the establishment of a working group. Madden’s opinions were first revealed in November 2021, says The Jewish News of Northern California. An assistant media professor, Bradley Hart, came across Madden’s anti-Semitic writings while researching his book, Hitler’s American Friends (Hitler’s American Friends).
Five months of investigation later, Michael Lukens, chairman of the task force and attached to the office of the president of the campus of Fresno, returned its conclusions. In particular, the team examined 53 boxes of documents that Madden had given to the library in 1980, before it took its name the following year.
In order to justify this request for a change of name, she relied on several quotes which leave no doubt about the anti-Semitism of the former librarian who officiated for 30 years at Fresno. In a letter to his mother, he says, for example:What Jews! Noisy, dirty, smelly, ugly — Jews like you’ve never seen before, absolutely unlike the Jews of San Francisco “. He imagines again, in another writing, placing ” the Jews “, in camps ” closed with barbed wire […] barefoot in a remote corner of Texas ».
« Every time I see one of those predatory noses, or those wandering, lustful eyes, or those drooling lips, or those flat feet, or hear those nasal, whiny voices, I tremble with rage and hate. at a time“, he describes, this time in a letter to a friend. In addition, the task force also established that there were no changes in his thinking to be seen in his personal records, such as no regrets or remorse.
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Jill Fields, history professor, coordinator and founder of the university’s Jewish Studies program, adds:There is still more to do. It’s one thing to change a name, it’s quite another to ensure that students and the wider community continue to be educated about the reality and persistence of anti-Semitism in our societies, such as that of other forms of racism.»
Madden’s name will also be removed from the institution’s website, campus advertisements and signage. The campus president also explained that he would now commission a working group to come up with a new name for the library. In the meantime, the building will be referred to as “Fresno State Library».
Credits: Ted Eytan (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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