Former South Carolina football stars are calling for the renaming of the Strom Thurmond Center.
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Alshon Jeffery is one of several former South Carolina football players calling on the university to remove Strom Thurmond’s name from an on-campus building.
He tweeted on Wednesday for the 17-year-old building to be renamed so that it does not celebrate a “well-known segregationist.” Former Gamecocks Marcus Lattimore and Mike Davis, who plays for the Carolina Panthers, have also called for the school to rename the building.
“To celebrate well known segregationist Strom Thurmond’s legacy by keeping his name on our Wellness Center sends a contradicting message to our black students of @UofSC,” Jeffery wrote on Twitter. “We can no longer be held back by those whose ideals represent division. We must continue the fight for equality.”
The president of the University of South Carolina has not supported renaming the Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center. However, he endorsed removing J. Marion Sims, a South Carolina native doctor who performed medical experiments on enslaved women in the 19th century, from a campus building.
Thurmond, who was the governor of South Carolina from 1947-1951, ran for president in 1948 as an ardent segregationist. His platform included preventing the federal government from passing anti-lynching laws and opposition to integrating the military. Thurmond, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1954, eventually switched party affiliation—from Democrat to Republican—due to his opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The politician spent half a century in the U.S. Senate. He held the Senate floor for 24 hours and 18 minutes during his filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the longest filibuster ever by a lone senator.
Jeffery is one of many NFL players urging their alma maters to rename buildings that honor racists. Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson and Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins successfully lobbied for Clemson University to rename the Calhoun Honors College, which honored Vice President John C. Calhoun, a strong defender of slavery.