- Sep 2017
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engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu
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It was the degree of centrality to the white population of the state which alone then constituted the important point of comparison between these places:
This sentence alone encompasses the controversy on racism that has plagued the University of Virginia 'til this day. The fact that the location for which these grounds were built upon was chosen solely based on the "...degree of centrality to the white population..." (meaning the most profitable and nurturing location for white people to flourish, with no regards toward people of color) emphasizes the 19th century's view of racial superiority and the founders' initial intent for inequality. This single sentence painfully and unmistakably claims that this university was founded entirely for the advancement of the white population, and no one else. Today, as Charlottesville, and the University of Virginia, proudly thrives on its growing diversity, this sentence also alludes to some irony.
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