For Geraldo Rivera, changing the name of Yale’s Calhoun College, named after a proslavery racist, to honor groundbreaking scientist Grace Murray Hopper was just too “intolerant” for him.
Geraldo Rivera Resigns From Yale Fellowship After Calhoun College Renamed For Grace Murray Hopper
February 14, 2017

For Geraldo Rivera, changing the name of Yale’s Calhoun College, named after a proslavery racist, to honor groundbreaking scientist Grace Murray Hopper was just too “intolerant” for him.

Think Progress explains:

On Sunday, media personality Geraldo Rivera announced he had stepped down from his role as an associate fellow at Yale, following the university’s decision to rename a college that had once been dedicated to a staunch slavery supporter.

Yale University announced it would change the name of Calhoun College to instead honor Grace Murray Hopper, who was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer during World War II and also helped develop the Mark II and Mark III computers. The school had originally been named for John C. Calhoun, who held several high-profile positions in government, including vice president, senator, and secretary of state. Calhoun called slavery a “positive good.”

But Rivera, who has a history of antipathy toward African Americans (though he has also defended Black Lives Matter protesters), groused:

Watch Rivera claim argue that it was reasonable for George Zimmerman to have racially profiled (before shooting and killing) Trayvon Martin below, from the May 18, 2012 The O’Reilly Factor, via Media Matters.

Crossposted at News Hounds.
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