Back when it was just Confederate generals and politicians, several (including me) predicted that the frenzy to blot out their names on school buildings, the tearing down of their statues, and the like, was simply laying the foundation to go after other leading personalities of American history and western civilization.
Since that time, radical activists have targeted others who do no not fit their notions of perfection, i.e. historical figures who promote their far-left agenda. For example, a 16-foot tall bronze statue of Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin stands in Seattle, despite his being responsible for the deaths of millions during and after the Bolshelvik Revolution that established Russia as the Soviet Union in 1917. Apparently, Lenin is a historical personality to be venerated by those on the Left, but George Washington and Thomas Jefferson are not.
Last week, in another American city known for its large radical element, the San Francisco Board of Education voted 6-1 to rename 44 of the city’s public schools. Those whose names are no longer worthy include George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Francis Scott Key, who wrote our national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner.
The inclusion of Key in the list of names that are no longer acceptable illustrates vividly that all of this is about re-writing American history along lines more acceptable to the American Left. They despise the founding principles of the country, and regularly denounce any person in our history who might be revered, as a way to undermine the nation’s foundations.
Three years ago, the board formed a committee to study the names on the district’s 125 schools. The committee was chaired by Jeremiah Jeffries, a local radical who is the son of prominent leaders in the Nation of Islam (the Black Muslims). The Black Muslims are known for their racist and anti-Semitic views. Malcolm X was murdered after he denounced the group and abandoned their extreme views, which included the belief that blacks are superior to whites.
While the school board voted last week to rename 44 schools, the final decision will not be made until April 19.
Washington — the father of our country — is no longer considered worthy to have a school named in his honor, because he owned slaves (although he freed them).
In addition to Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Key, other names that are targeted for removal include Vasco de Balboa — the Spanish explorer who was the first European to see the Pacific Ocean. Balboa is now politically incorrect because the whole period of European colonization of the Americas is considered abusive of the indigenous peoples of that time. Of course, the Spanish and Portuguese colonizers also ended such evil practices as human sacrifices and cannibalism among indigenous peoples, but that apparently does not matter. To many on the Left, the Americas were pretty much a paradise before European Christians polluted it.
Another American president they intend to dishonor is Abraham Lincoln — he is charged with mistreating indigenous people as well. Other U.S. presidents whose names will be removed include native Californian Herbert Hoover (he did not favor a federal anti-lynching law); Theodore Roosevelt (considered to have racist views toward Cubans during the Spanish-American War, which ironically was fought to liberate Cuba from Spanish rule); Franklin Roosevelt (the internment of Japanese-Americans); William McKinley (conducted the Spanish-American War, which the committee believed was a racist war); James Monroe (slave owner); and James Garfield. It is not certain what Garfield did wrong, in the eyes of the committee. Perhaps it was because he was a Church of Christ minister.
Paul Revere, who was a famous patriot leader during the American Revolution, will also have his name blotted out. Since he owned no slaves and there is no record of him having any dealings with indigenous peoples in Boston in 1775, when he made his famous midnight ride, one must presume that his role in the founding of the country must be the problem. Some speculated that his military service against the Penobscot Indians might be his great sin.
Even the Alamo is slated for erasure as a school name, presumably because the committee believes it is a symbol of the Texas Revolution, when they became independent of the Republic of Mexico. Apparently, Mexican dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna is considered morally superior to the men who died at the Alamo in its defense, fighting to be free of Santa Anna’s dictatorship.
Many historians have criticized the school board’s vote, noting that Jeffries refused to consult with them during the decision-making process. Instead, he relied on information he took from the Internet site Wikipedia. Jeffries reportedly said there was “no need to bring historians forward to say — they either pontificate or list a bunch of reasons, why or [say] they had great qualities. Neither are necessary in this discussion.”
Alexis Coe, who wrote a best-selling biography on Washington, responded, “We’re being confronted with all-or-nothing choices when it comes to our founding history, monuments, or school names. That’s not how history works, or our lives work, or how anything works.”
Eric Foner, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and professor at Columbia agreed, saying, “If you can only name schools after people who were perfect, you will have a lot of unnamed schools.”
Sadly, left-leaning individuals like Jeffries might already have a list of names more to their liking, names which will no doubt include individuals who will better fit his radical worldview.
