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A request for a street named in honor of Chicago author Saul Bellow was denied due to controversial remarks and writing by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Bellow's University of Chicago colleague and friend, Richard Stern, made the request to Ald. Toni Preckwinkle. Stern told the Chicago Tribune that Preckwinkle sent him a letter saying she had heard Bellow made racist comments and so would not endorse a memorial to him.
Raised in Humboldt Park from the age of nine, and then a Hyde Park resident for many years, Bellow was cautious of the transformations of those neighborhoods from mostly European immigrants to Puerto Rican and African-American, respectively, and believed the work ethic of the latter groups was not as strong as the former. Bellow was, however, close friends with African-American novelist Ralph Ellison. Bellow died in 2005 at age 89.
He is also famous for saying in the New York Times Magazine, "Who is the Tolstoy of the Zulus? The Proust of the Papauns? I'd be glad to read him." Bellow claimed he was misquoted, and then retorted by saying he was pointing out the differences between literate and preliterate societies.
Studs Terkel commented to the Chicago Tribune: "I don't think he was a racist; I think he was a bit more scared of black-skinned people than he should have been."
This isn't the first time a controversial name has been brought up or awarded a street name. There's the honorary "Hugh Hefner Way," for example, which was protested by feminist groups, and Balbo Drive is named for Italo Balbo, the fascist Italian air minister in 1933, which was also protested.
What are your thoughts? Should someone still be honored for their work even if their worldview is possibly racist?
Image of Saul Bellow from the U of C news office.
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Well, he had a black friend.
That's good enough for me.
Ha, Saul Bellow had a token black friend.
Also, who cares, name the street after him.
This makes me chuckle when thinking of Washington and Jefferson streets.
No
We should not name any streets after anybody in Chicago. It's gotten way out of hand.
Now if someone wants to pony up the money to the name the blue/red line etc after them I am all for that.
Don't forget the hub-bub when they tried to get an honorary street named for Black Panther leader Fred Hampton... Not sure what happened with that.
In response to your question, I suggest that your question should not state that Saul Bellow's "worldview was possibly racist."
In fact, there is nothing in anything that Bellow said or wrote that suggested that he was racist. He was asked a question about multiculturalism, with its politically correct way of giving value to human knowledge on the basis of affirmative action.
Bellow did not think that the "every society's knowledge is just as good as everyone elses's knowledge" concept was a good idea. He responded badly to a reporter's question, hurting people with that stupid "Papuans" and "Zulus" comment.
Bellows underlying point, though valid, was lost under the crushing weight of his hurtful words.
But look far and wide for anything else he did that was racist. What will you find? Diddly.
One African-American commentator with The New York Times said Bellow was racist because African-Americans in a few of his novels were committing crimes. Racism? Hardly. The only racism was the reverse racism of that commentator against Bellow.
The bottom line is this. Who needs a stinking brown honorary street sign anyway? Bellow would say, that's OK, I don't need it.
"the crushing weight of his hurtful words."
Oh criminy. Waah, waah. Nobel prize winning authors have a responsibility not to say anything that could hurt someone's feelings! Literature is not supposed to make anyone uncomfortable, after all.
Anyway, I love the idea of a subliterate alderthing passing judgement on Bellow. I hear the Privy Counsellor of Avon rejected Shakespeare Street on much the same grounds.