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Mayor de Blasio's son is among protesters at Yale and wants to wipe a racist's name from campus
(Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
Newly elected New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's son Dante de Blasio attends his father's election night party on November 5, 2013 in New York City.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio told local reporters recently that his son Dante, a freshman at Yale University, has been active in the student-led protests against racism on campus.
“He has certainly been involved in the discussion on the campus," de Blasio said, according to the Observer.
"He’s active in the Black Student Union and he’s been to some of the protests, I know that for sure."
Dante de Blasio chose Yale last spring from a field of nine other top-tier schools, including Brown University and Amherst College. His choice was in part driven by Yale's strong offering in history, philosophy, and political science, The New York Times reported.
Yale's campus has been rife with student-led political action this fall. Over the past month, tension has been simmering in New Haven, Connecticut amid claims of systemic racism at colleges across the US.
Yale University has been embroiled in student-led protests over racism on campus, and students have called for the resignation of administration members they say are creating a dangerous environment.
Students have also pointed to places where the university glorifies individuals with direct links to racism, saying those ties should be broken.
Calhoun College — one of Yale's 12 residential colleges — was named for John C. Calhoun, a fervent supporter of slavery. Students and alumni have called for the renaming of this school.
According to the mayor, Dante is among the students who wish to have the college renamed.
“I think he’s very concerned and he certainly notes the fact that the college he’s in, Calhoun College, is named for someone it shouldn’t be named for. That’s quite evident to him,” de Blasio told reporters.
“You can imagine that as a young man of African descent, it doesn’t feel particularly appropriate to live in a place named after the chief segregationist leader of the south in that period of time.”
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