posted on June 8, 2005 09:16:10 AM new
In a typically PC Berkeley move, Jefferson Elementary may be reborn as Sequoia Elementary because certain faculty members feel “uncomfortable” with the fact that Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. But instead of trying to ignore a significant national figure and his contributions to the United States, the school should focus on using Jefferson’s great achievements—and his darker side—as a tool to spark dialogue on slavery and culture at that time.
While we’re considering name changes, what do we do about our own town’s nomenclature? Our namesake, Bishop George Berkeley, owned slaves as well. Do the ill-at-ease faculty members feel uncomfortable in a city with such a dark and devious past? Perhaps we should vote to change the city’s name as well.
We don’t have anything against Sequoia trees. They’re perfectly nice plants and are very tall. They’re also bland. Thomas Jefferson, on the other hand, was responsible for many of our laws and our westward expansion. He was also a very flawed man who struggled between his ideals of freedom for all and the debts he had accrued over the years, unable at last to free all his slaves upon his passing.
No one is perfect—not Martin Luther King Jr., not Cesar Chavez, not any of the people history has put on a pedestal. There’s no real black-and-white, good-versus-bad in reality. You can’t dismiss a part of or even a whole person just because he’s morally ambiguous or even wrong from our standpoint. In fact, discussing a figure’s different facets, introducing students to the complexity of history and its consequences will open them up at an earlier age to understanding it. It may even make history class more interesting. Such a discussion would serve the educational mission of the school.
Either way, Thomas Jefferson deserves to be remembered, respected—and criticized, too. All that making a fuss over changing the school’s name does is trivialize his achievements and shy away from intelligently introducing students to the complexity of these social and political issues, something a city with a reputation for open-mindedness shouldn’t be afraid to do.
posted on June 8, 2005 09:23:23 AM new
Bear, I dont think one can demand nor rebuke affiliation to the many public namesakes of this country. Somebody in Sequoia could attain their own honorable contribution and then create a school in their honor,though? But that would mean time and proof of such honorable deeds and ways, something they obviously cannot find enough time to wait for.
posted on June 8, 2005 09:30:26 AM new
Can't people get passed the past and start thinking about the future. The future of America. Who didn't own slaves. That is how the black population became to be. They have, well at least some, have left their past behind and started a new future for the black population. A future that should be full of hope and prosperity.
posted on June 8, 2005 09:35:33 AM new
"""Can't people get passed the past and start thinking about the future. The future of America. Who didn't own slaves. That is how the black population became to be. They have, well at least some, have left their past behind and started a new future for the black population. A future that should be full of hope and prosperity."""
posted on June 8, 2005 09:41:17 AM new
ooooohhhhhhhhhh! Gotta go with Crow on that one. That was a very white statement. Almost a Deanism. Well meaning but badly phrased.
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No, I'm saying -- I'm merely -- I'm saying what I'm saying. I don't know why I'm always having people say, are you trying to say -- you know what you can do if you want to know what I'm saying is listen to what I'm saying. What I'm saying is what I said ...
- Ann Coulter
[ edited by fenix03 on Jun 8, 2005 09:41 AM ]
posted on June 8, 2005 09:44:45 AM new
Did someone mention racist??
Posted by crowfart :
Goood GAWD ! Was THAT "WHITE" !
Goood GAWD ! Was THAT "WHITE" !
Goood GAWD ! Was THAT "WHITE" !
Goood GAWD ! Was THAT "WHITE" !
Goood GAWD ! Was THAT "WHITE" !
Goood GAWD ! Was THAT "WHITE" !
Looks like that elephant tranq did not do the trick as the animal keepers had hoped - look who's blowing up their truck again? And all dressed in a pink buttoned tutu too.
Libra, good thing you've got your box covered for the next stampede. I thought you said you were Burmese, btw,.. when did you become white?
.
posted on June 8, 2005 09:55:47 AM new
Maybe my phrasing isn't as up to par with your fenix, but that's alright I will excuse you.
You tell me how the black population came to america? They have come a long way from those years. Most bettered themselves, Many raised to the top. C. Rice, Powell, MLK, the rappers, the list is long. Now someone thinks that T.Roosevelt shouldn't have a school named after him. He did more for American than having slaves. Slaves are a minuscule part of his life. You see the word slaves and right away you get upset, but that was the way it was back then. It isn't now unless you know something I don't.
And what ever crowfarm said is garbage to me.
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posted on June 8, 2005 11:26:18 AM new
Yep....I agree ...just another case of the PC police going to far. I think these people are all nuts...total crazies...just like the one's working to remove Indian names from sports teams. Wackos...total wackos.
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Libra I think the way you said it was just fine. They're just looking for something to twist your intentions around by making it look different that you meant it. It's all part of the game.
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I've read a study once...quite a while back... that used different gauges which came to the conclusion that blacks in America might even be fortunate that they were brought to the US. They made a comparison about how their counter-parts still living in Africa...had it so much worse than the majority of blacks living in the US today do.
"Whenever the nation is under attack, from within or without, liberals side with the enemy. This is their essence." --Ann Coulter
And why the American Voters chose to RE-elect President Bush to four more years. YES!!!
posted on June 8, 2005 11:53:40 AM new
Linda - Bite me. I said exactly what I meant and I did not twist anything. Please explain to me just how "Well meaning but badly phrased." can be interpreted as "twisting" anything. This us against them thing is really getting out of hand.
Libra - I realize that you didn't mean anything negative, that's why I used the words that I did. It just came across as patronizing.
Please stop attempting to analyze my though process, you could not have be further from truth had you tried.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
No, I'm saying -- I'm merely -- I'm saying what I'm saying. I don't know why I'm always having people say, are you trying to say -- you know what you can do if you want to know what I'm saying is listen to what I'm saying. What I'm saying is what I said ...
posted on June 8, 2005 11:55:04 AM new
Only the neonazicons would see being sold into slavery as "fortunate".....
""I've read a study once...quite a while back... that used different gauges which came to the conclusion that blacks in America might even be fortunate that they were brought to the US.""
"""I've read a study once...quite a while back... that used different gauges which came to the conclusion that blacks in America might even be fortunate that they were brought to the US. They made a comparison about how their counter-parts still living in Africa...had it so much worse than the majority of blacks living in the US today do.
""
Nothing like lumping all blacks into one big group !
I'm sure the people who were sold into slavery, their children taken from them, their whippings , beatings, murder and rape...these people really enjoyed it because they could see 200 years into the future to "What a Wonderful World"......
posted on June 8, 2005 12:52:59 PM new
At least old enough that I don't have consider anyone that thinks differently from myself as the enemy.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
No, I'm saying -- I'm merely -- I'm saying what I'm saying. I don't know why I'm always having people say, are you trying to say -- you know what you can do if you want to know what I'm saying is listen to what I'm saying. What I'm saying is what I said ...
posted on June 8, 2005 03:20:15 PM newI've read a study once...quite a while back... that used different gauges which came to the conclusion that blacks in America might even be fortunate that they were brought to the US. They made a comparison about how their counter-parts still living in Africa...had it so much worse than the majority of blacks living in the US today do.
I'll bet some of your best friends are black.
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Dick Cheney: "I have not suggested there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11..."
