Tear down what? Heck, I don’t know: statue, monument, building, ornament, whatever.
Elitist political correctness has gone amuck. It is now approaching comical at the daily cries for changing names, doing away with memorials, tearing down statues and removing monuments — all which represent a page in U.S. history. It has become the “Insensitivity of the Day.” (Maybe I should create a blog feature with that title!)
- Lexington, Kentucky will relocate the statues of John Hunt Morgan and John C. Brackenridge after the City Council unanimously approved their removal;
- Manatee County Florida commissioners approved a resolution to temporarily move a Confederate memorial from its spot in Bradenton;
- Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners (in Florida) voted to remove the Memoria In Aeterna monument, which honors Confederate soldiers, from a county courthouse;
- Busts of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and Lt. Gen. Stonewall Jackson will be removed from the City University of New York’s Hall of Fame for Great Americans;
- The Charlottesville, Virginia City Council voted to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee at the newly renamed Emancipation Park;
- Madison, Wisconsin Mayor Paul Soglin announced that two Confederate memorials at the Forest Hill Cemetery will be removed.
The cries for removal of the above stem from the sudden wrath in the nation against monuments and/or statues having to do with the Confederacy, the Civil War, or those who were involved in those or those who owned slaves. Granted slavery is probably the biggest blot against humanity in World history, slavery’s existence cannot be erased from history, even though the PC Police are doing their best to make that happen.
Names
This rampant elitist purification purge does not stop at statues and monuments. It has for the last decade or so crept into the names of sports teams and facilities. Professional teams like the Washington Redskins, Kansas City Chiefs, Cleveland Indians and others have for decades born the monikors representing Native Indians. The Politically Correct claim that doing so is demeaning and actually racist. The Redskins team owner Dan Snyder has had intense conversations with Native American tribal chiefs of several tribes who have agreed that bearing that name is considered in their tribes to be an honor and not an insult.
Colleges and universities have been caught up in this political correctness as well. The Arkansas State University Indians had to change their name. Ole Miss is no longer “The Rebels.” The Indians of Northeast Louisiana University have been replaced by the “WarHawks.”
There are several dangers that these actions are causing. The most obvious is specifically with monument and statue removal: those each represent a page in U.S. history that tell the stories of people and events that really existed and happened and obviously were involved in historical actions that impacted and changed American history for eternity. There is no logic to their removal. Certainly some represent times of slavery and oppression. But those represent as well a “New” America that was birthed with the Civil War in which more than 500,000 Americans gave their lives fighting for the freedom of slaves. It makes no sense to me to try to wipe out that history even as dark as it was.
The biggest problem with this latest “trend” is who gets to decide which of everything in American is OK and which must be eliminated? What troubles one always champions another. If we continue down that rabbit trail it will get pretty dangerous to live in the U.S. Let’s try that rabbit trail to illustrate.
Indignation
Let’s face it: people are getting their feelings hurt pretty regularly now by things that they see or hear. “Righteous” indignation (as defined by whomever) seems to be the measure used to determine what is and what is not OK. I listed some above that are pretty much understandable though thought to be ridiculous by many. But this can — and probably will — get more ridiculous over the next period of time.
Take for instance our Nation’s Capitol: Washington, D.C. We all know who it was named for: George Washington — U.S. President #1. But more importantly, the “Slaveowner in Chief.” That’s right: Washington owned hundreds of slaves. Rename the city? What about that bastion of journalism The Washington Post? They are quick to say their name was taken from their city, not the first President. But the city was named after the President. Washington was not just a slave owner, he was a tobacco farmer! How much more indignation does that create among Elitists? Oh, and there are hundreds more towns, cities, parks, and streets named Washington. And then there’s “Washington and Lee University.” How terrible is that name: double hate speech. Robert E. Lee actually headed the Confederate army that fought to keep slavery.
Since the city name should be changed, what possible name could be used that would both represent the U.S. center of federal government and NOT be politically insensitive? What about “Roosevelt?” We had two presidents that bore than name and neither farmed tobacco or owned slaves. Uh Oh…..Franklin Roosevelt interred 117,000 Japanese people living in the U.S., two-thirds of who were American born citizens.
Here’s another that should get Leftist hackles up but so far I’ve not heard any screaming: Oklahoma. The state name is derived from two Choctaw words: “Okla” and “homa.” “Okla” means “red,” and “homa” means “people,” or “Red People.” I am personally indignant at that name. Why? If it is unbearable and insensitive to have a football team named the “Redskins,” why is not intolerable to have a state named “Red People?”
What about the guy who wrote most of the documents that established the United States, Thomas Jefferson? You guessed it: a slave owner. Do we tear down that wonderful memorial in D.C. built in his honor? What do we do about Jacksonville, Florida and Jackson, Mississippi and many other places named after Andrew Jackson? All must be renamed to something else who the politically correct elitists determine are politically correct.
What about the “Saints?” Hmmm….. St. Louis, San Diego, St. Petersburg, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi, too. Elitists love the idea that prayer in public schools and public meetings has been ruled unconstitutional by many courts as violations of the separation of Church and State. Where’s the outrage for the aforementioned cities that are named for religious figures? (Don’t forget Nancy Pelosi’s beloved San Francisco) All those cities must be renamed. Why not use names that are so non-offensive they are used to name cars: Acura, Elantra, Sentra, etc.? Makes sense to me.
Let’s take it one step farther: States. The Massachusetts state seal contains a Native American holding a bow and arrow. Elitists certainly understand that using this representation of Native Americans as violent flies in the face of political correctness.
But it gets worse: Minnesota’s state seal depicts a pioneer tilling a field while a Native American rides away on a horse and is carrying a spear. The seal bears multiple racial slurs: the spear is a weapon, (God forbid) and represents Native Americans as violent people. The Native American is riding away from a field being worked, which stereotypes Native Americans as being lazy and avoiding work. But that’s not all: it demonstrates a racial comparison impressing that the farmer is white, and only white Americans work. How racist! Obviously the seal bears multiple examples of White superiority. How ridiculous is that? In ten straight national elections, Minnesotans voted Democratic.
Summary
Where does it stop? Who decides what is and what is not acceptable? What if a national leader like a President determines that all people of color are unacceptable and should be removed? What if bald people are determined to be politically incorrect and therefore must be removed? I was not alive but I remember a time and a nation that felt pretty much that anyone who was not white, blonde, and had blue eyes was inferior and a blight to humanity. That resulted in 6 million that did not bear those traits being executed. Hitler illustrated just how dangerous this philosophy can get.
Whatever happened to the cries from the Left to embrace differences and to tolerate and even champion those differences? Do people really not see how far this nation has come since the Pilgrims and how much more freedom and liberty there is today? Certainly we in American have not “arrived.” But we are far down the road toward getting acceptance for all differences among people in place.
That will NOT happen as long as the “PC Police” have power.
