Washington — “The Woke Folk” aren’t done. As I said last week, they’re tearing down statues of Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Frederick Douglass. It’s only a matter of time before they expand their attacks to other historical irritants that have gotten in their way, say, Santa Claus or maybe Uncle Sam — he should have gone long ago. But now, according to “The Good Times” — also known as The Washington Times — the Woke Folk want to change the names of “1,000 rivers, mountains and other places because they think the names are racist.” That’s how the Times described the story last Wednesday.
Rep. Al Green, a Democrat from Texas, said, “Racism, even in geography, cannot be tolerated in a country that strives for liberty and justice for all.” Racism has long been a target of Democrats, even independents, and, when justified, Republicans. Remember, the Civil Rights Acts of the mid-1960s had bipartisan support. Racial intolerance is not a controversial issue today. We are all opposed to it, at least all civilized Americans. But with the advent of the Woke Folk opposition to racism, it has taken an absurd turn. This “geographic racism” that Green speaks of is a perfect example of the absurdity I am talking about.
Vegetarianism is swift becoming a Democratic desire. Will the day come when eating a hamburger for lunch becomes a sign of divisive intolerance? Will the day come when hamburger chains will be required to censor their ads? These days, flaunting virtue is a powerful force for self-promotion, at least among leftists. I look forward to the day when virtuous Democrats eat a handful of vitamins for lunch, washing them down with carrot juice, and eat only a bowl of salad for dinner.
Legislation introduced a few weeks ago by Senator Elizabeth Warren of the great state of Massachusetts and Green—aptly named—would eliminate place names that honor people who, in the representative’s words, have “held racially repugnant views” or “committed injustices against racial minorities.” Wait until vegetarians take over the Democratic Party and target meat eaters. Democrats could become the recent McCarthyites. I can see it. There will be hearings in Congress where a witness will be asked if he ever ate at McDonald’s Emporium or what he had for dinner last night. It’s happened before in America. I shudder to think of the awful McCarthy hearings.
As it stands, we’re just talking about changing the names of thousands of places. That’s not a large deal. Rivers, mountains, and cities aren’t racist in and of themselves, but their names can have racist undertones. Apparently, Warren and Green were asked by the Times to name the entities that would have to go. Both reluctantly agreed.
Now, a recent pest has joined the ranks of the “geographic racism” naysayers. Her name is Deb Haaland, and she’s the Biden administration’s Interior Secretary. What’s more, she’s Native American, or at least she claims to be. That would make her the first Native American woman to reach Cabinet rank. Remember the controversy Warren got herself into when she made a similar claim? Think of the laughs our rude former president got every time he called her Pocahontas. Well, I think President Joe Biden has thoroughly vetted Haaland. Now, she’s waded into the geographic racism controversy, pledging that “we’re exploring options for changing place names, including authority the Secretary (that’s her) can take, to better address a number of names that don’t reflect who we are as a nation.”
Have you looked at a map lately? There are indeed thousands of names that will have to be changed — maybe millions. A few weeks ago I was in the Chicago area and stayed at the Baker Hotel, right on the Fox River. Those are the two places that Haaland would suspect. A fox is an innocent animal and its name should not be used. The Baker Hotel is less likely, but people have been prejudiced against Bakers for years. Of course, there are uncomplicated targets, like Columbus, Ohio, named for Christopher Columbus, and Columbus Mountain in Colorado. In fact, yesterday, on my way to Washington, I discovered Columbus Boulevard and Columbia, Maryland. There must be a thousand places in our extensive and unenlightened country that are named after that insulting explorer. And then we come to Lincoln and Washington.
This will be a very long crusade. Are we really sure that the country’s benefactors are capable of doing this?
