Last year, when a move to force the Washington Redskins to change their name once again gained momentum, a D.C.-based website joked that we’d also have to rename redskin potatoes. “I can’t help but feel saddened by how insensitive these … are to Native Americans,” one poster wrote.
While another poster offered the name “paleface potatoes,” yet another wondered whether the name of the country Nigeria should be deemed offensive. Wait, are the Cleveland “Browns” offensive? (Forget that the team was named after the first coach, Paul Brown, who was white.) How about the Atlanta Braves? The University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux?
And on the other side, what about Cracker Barrel? “The name is offensive, their logo stereotypes European Americans as people who sit on chairs and lean against what appears to be a bourbon barrel, claiming we are all a bunch of alcoholics,” said one satirical website.
Related: Dems & ‘Offensive’ Presidents
But political correctness is running amok of late, the amokiest it has been in quite a while. After a clearly disturbed young man shot nine people at a black church in Charleston, S.C., a hew and cry arose to ban the Confederate flag (Dylann Roof had posed with the flag). Since then, a slew of other “offensive” symbols have been targeted. And for liberals on a mission, this is only the beginning.
A Racist Saint?
The Left is gunning for Louisiana’s official state symbol, the fleur de lis, saying it is downright racist.
“As an African I find it painful, and I think people whose ancestors were enslaved here may feel it even harder than I do as an African,” slavery historian Dr. Ibrahima Seck told WWL-TV.
While the fleur de lis is a French symbol that was once used by royal families (all the way back to the 13th century), Seck said the symbol is connected to the state’s “black codes” of 1724, which were used to hold down slaves. He said escaped slaves were branded on the shoulder with the symbol after they were captured.
But the fleur de lis, made the official state symbol in 2008, is everywhere in Louisiana: It’s on buildings, official state documents, and the New Orleans Saints’ football helmets.
“The United States of America was a slave-holding republic, not just the South,” said Fitzmorris. “Where do you stop? Do you get rid of all symbols?”
Tulane University history professor Terence Fitzmorris mocked the racist claim.
“The fleur de lis was the symbol of a monarchy,” he said on WWL. “The United States of America was a slave-holding republic, not just the South. Where do you stop? Do you get rid of all symbols?”
More Like Mount Racist
Author and conspiracy theorist Mark Dice goofed on beachgoers in San Diego in July, telling them President Obama had issued an executive order to “tear down Mount Rushmore, this racist, white supremacist monument.”
Asked whether this was a good idea, one woman said, “Absolutely, racism is bullsh*t as well as gay marriage not being legalized,” InfoWars reported.
“She even went on to support the notion that the four presidents currently depicted on Mount Rushmore should be replaced with homosexuals or ‘anti-racist anything.’ ‘So you do support Obama’s plan to tear it down?” asked Dice.
“ ‘Absolutely,’ the woman said.
“An African-American man then agrees that Mount Rushmore being ‘reconstructed with some black people’ would be ‘pretty cool,’ before acknowledging that he didn’t know where Mount Rushmore was actually located.
“’Isn’t that where they found all the treasure in National Treasure?’ asks another dumbfounded beachgoer.”
Texist
Alumni and parents at Richland High School in Haltom City, Texas, are clamoring for a change of not of a school name, but a mascot.
“The school’s logo is not exactly the Confederate flag, but they do use some similar symbols,” a reporter said on CBS Dallas. (For the record, the school’s logo is some red, white and blue strips with some stars. At last check, this is not unlike the American flag).
Rebels, Dixie Belles, and Johnny Rebel are mascots for different teams at the school.
“Civil rights activist Reverend Kyev Tatum asked the school board to change the mascot names, saying the symbols are having a negative impact on children of color,” the reporter said.
“It’s a cultural cleansing of the south,” said Allen Hearrean. “They are removing everything that relates to anything that’s southern. Pretty soon being a Texan will be racist.”
“From the public steps of the Statehouse of South Carolina to the public classroom of Texas, it is time to take them down… Whether it’s the Rebels mascot to the Dixie Belles Dance Team to Johnny the Rebel on campus, it is time for the Confederacy to come down.”
But one protester said the school’s got it wrong — and wondered where it all ends.
“It’s a cultural cleansing of the south is what it is,” said Allen Hearrean, who supports the Rebel mascot. “They are removing everything that relates to anything that’s southern. Pretty soon being a Texan will be racist.”
Stoned Mountain
The world’s largest bas-relief rock carving is in, of all places, Stone Mountain, Ga., 20 miles outside Atlanta.
Hacked into the rock, 190 feet long and 90 feet high, are Confederate President Jefferson Davis and two southern generals, Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. All three are riding horses.
But the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP says, “It is time for Georgia and other Southern states to end the glorification of slavery and white supremacy paid for and maintained with the taxes of all its citizens.” And Atlanta Councilman Michael Bond this month said those figures are divisive and perhaps other historic figures should be added to the mountain, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and former president resident Jimmy Carter, a Georgia native.
Now, hip-hop fans have joined the debate, starting a petition to change the face of Stone Mountain by adding the music group Outkast — with Big Boi and Andre 3000, riding in a Cadillac.
“By no means do we wish to erase or destroy the current carving, which, regardless of its context, is an impressive and historic work of art,” states the MoveOn.com petition. “We simply wish to add new carvings, of Atlanta hip-hop duo Outkast, to the mountainside. There’s plenty of room.”
Hatin’ on Robert E. Lee
Days after South Carolina legislators voted to remove the Confederate flag from its statehouse, Baltimore moved to take down its own Confederate landmarks. The City Council voted to rename Robert E. Lee Park as some citizens complained that the name was racially divisive.
The 450-acre tranquil park, enjoyed by hikers and boaters and dog walkers, was named after the commanding general of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. But he also spent three years in Baltimore at Fort Carroll.
“That name needs to come down and a more appropriate name placed on it,” community activist Dr. Marvin “Doc” Cheatham said, CBS News reported. “It is clear when you look at the history of the Confederacy what it stood for, that they were supportive of slavery.”
Said Council member Donna Kinzer: “If it offends someone, then we should change the name.”
Hatin’ on Robert E. Lee Redux
On July 20, “concerned citizens” in Long Beach, Ca., filled a school board hearing to demand that the name of Robert E. Lee Elementary School be changed. Reason: The name is “insensitive.”
“This person who their school’s named for and they’re supposed to be proud of with respect to their school fought for slavery,” one attendee during the meeting, CBS LA reported.
“Most of the speakers, who support the name change, want the school’s name to be changed to Jenny Oropeza Elementary School after the late California State senator, who had strong ties to Long Beach. ‘To name a school after a Latina leader, especially as fierce as she was, and so very close to her community as she was, it makes sense to me,’ said Lena Gonzalez.
“Members of the local Cambodian community also suggested using a Cambodian leader’s name,” the TV station said. Pol Pot, perhaps?
General Dislike
Right in the heart of the Confederacy, J.E.B. Stuart High School in Fairfax, Va., is having an identity crisis.
“Stuart does have a bad reputation — no one can deny that,” Cassie Marcotty, one of the seniors pushing for a name change, told the Washington Post. “We’re hoping it can rebrand the school and present it in a positive light.”
Stuart was flamboyant: He sported a long beard, a red-lined gray cape, yellow sash, and often a hat cocked to the side with an ostrich plume sticking out. But he was a Confederate general, one who embarrassed the North several times, including once when he took over command of the troops after Stonewall Jackson was injured.
Of course, he got crushed at Gettysburg. But he faces yet another defeat. “Changing the name, we think, will help the current atmosphere at the school,” Lisa McQuail, a descendant of Confederate soldiers, said at the hearing.
McQuail didn’t say how — or why.
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