Bill Clinton Goes To Court To Shed Middle Name With Ties To Slavery
The Former President Feels Shame for Having a Name Tied to the Vestiges of Slavery and Seeks to Reshape His Moniker by Honoring a Civil Rights Pioneer
By BUTCH WITT
Published August 26, 2017
As social activists topple the statues of Confederate soldiers across the country and conscientious institutions remove the names of former slaveholders from stately buildings, one prominent American – former president Bill Clinton – is embracing the zeitgeist of the day with abandon. He is doing so through a name change of his own.
Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas. He eventually changed his last name to “Clinton” out of respect for his stepfather who raised him with his biological mother. His middle name of “Jefferson,” however, has remained unchanged – until now.
If Clinton’s petition before the Supreme Court of New York in Westchester County is granted in November, his middle name will change from “Jefferson” to “Malcolm.” Clinton chose his new middle name to celebrate his favorite civil rights leader: Malcolm X.
According to Clinton, throughout most his life he was very proud of his middle name which, of course, derives from founding father and scribe of the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson. “I always liked to imagine that I was following in his footsteps in some way,” said Clinton in a 1997 interview with Time Magazine. “He seemed to have such a spirit about him, and being a Southern boy myself I appreciate his strong Southern heritage.”
In 2017, however, the political winds have changed direction. Today Thomas Jefferson’s vast holdings of African slaves throughout his adult life tarnishes his name and eclipses any contributions he might have made as either a revolutionary or a president. In fact, in Jefferson’s lifetime he owned more than 600 slaves.
Jefferson’s sordid connection to slavery is a reality not lost on former President Clinton. “I once loved this man, but now I despise all he stood for,” said Clinton in a news conference yesterday at the Washington Press Club. “I recognize with the benefit of maturity that he was a scoundrel and a hypocrite of the highest magnitude,” he added.
Clinton also quipped about his choice for a new middle name: “Hillary thought maybe I chose ‘Malcolm’ because I like the show Malcolm in the Middle so much.” In reality, Clinton sees Malcolm X as a strong black man that presented an alternative to the non-violent form of social protest popularized by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “I’ve learned it’s never too late to try to fix things, so I’m honored, so honored, that I will have this glorious name of a true American revolutionary for the rest of my life.”