San Francisco Renaming Schools

[Parasaurolophus]

Didn't realize that Lincoln was a "racist". Time to rewrite history and for re-education camps.

From the article:

"Lincoln, known for his legacy of emancipation, is included "because of the Civil War president's treatment of American Indians, which included a mass hanging after an uprising," according to the San Francisco Chronicle."

This was actually the largest mass execution in American history. Lincoln didn't exactly cover himself in glory in the Dakota War (itself the result of an American violation of treaty obligations resulting in a forced famine). In the aftermath, the Winnebago--who were not involved in the war--were kicked out of Minnesota because they were Native American and nearby, and their land was--surprise!--appropriated.




Generally speaking, I think that naming and public honours attach mostly to the primary constituents of a person's reputation. So since Lincoln is primarily known for being President, the civil war, and abolishing(ish) slavery, he's a perfectly fine candidate for having things named after him. But where such people are also responsible for atrocities (or lesser-but-still-bad-events-and-actions), they're also fine candidates for having their names removed from public buildings and monuments. It seems to me that it's up to the relevant communities to decide whom to honour and how. I think it's OK to have schools named after Lincoln; it's also OK to remove his name from schools, and the bad things he did are a perfectly good reason to do so. If that's what the district wants to do, that's just fine, and if in doing so they raise awareness in the district of the Dakota War, that seems like a good thing to me.

It's just a school, after all. Its name isn't some sacrosanct holy of holies.

[mahagonny]

It's just a school, after all. Its name isn't some sacrosanct holy of holies.

I get that, but what I don't get is the sense of urgency attached to all of this. It's as though some deadline is coming and you'll be faulted for not having corrected the problem of letting something be named after a person we've decided (some of us, anyway) has been overrated. From the article:

'The San Francisco Board of Education passed the resolution on Tuesday in a 6-1 vote, prompting mixed reaction from parents and San Francisco Mayor London Breed. The resolution requires that the public submit alternative names by April 19, after which the panel will make its recommendations to the school board.

'"This is an important conversation to have, and one that we [sic] should involve our communities, our families, and our students," Breed said in a statement Wednesday. "What I cannot understand is why the School Board is advancing a plan to have all these schools renamed by April, when there isn't a plan to have our kids back in the classroom by then. Our students are suffering, and we should be talking about getting them in classrooms, getting them mental health support, and getting them the resources they need in this challenging time.'

Reasonable enough. Though I would also posit, anyone who wants to be Mayor of San Francisco, deserves to.

And of course, the statue of Jimi Hendrix in Seattle is not coming down, although he was both (1) a philanderer and (2) jealous in relationships and violent when drunk. Because some people are deified.

[Parasaurolophus]

It's just a school, after all. Its name isn't some sacrosanct holy of holies.

I get that, but what I don't get is the sense of urgency attached to all of this. It's as though some deadline is coming and you'll be faulted for not having corrected the problem of letting something be named after a person we've decided (some of us, anyway) has been overrated.

For the record, this has been three years in the making:

The decision by the San Francisco Board of Education in a 6-1 vote Tuesday night affects one-third of the city's schools and came nearly three years after the board started considering the idea.

[Anselm]

Honest Abe said some things that would not go over well today.  His sanitized hagiographies leave out those quotes.  I suppose we could just give each school a number or name it after inanimate objects like minerals and fungi.  A similar effort is going on now in Chicago where they identified over 30 schools named after people who owned slaves. 

Look into the Taliban's side of the story with regard to the statues.  From Mullah Omar:

I did not want to destroy the Bamiyan Buddha. In fact, some foreigners came to me and said they would like to conduct the repair work of the Bamiyan Buddha that had been slightly damaged due to rains. This shocked me. I thought, these callous people have no regard for thousands of living human beings—the Afghans who are dying of hunger, but they are so concerned about non-living objects like the Buddha. This was extremely deplorable. That is why I ordered its destruction. Had they come for humanitarian work, I would have never ordered the Buddha's destruction

[mahagonny]

It's just a school, after all. Its name isn't some sacrosanct holy of holies.

I get that, but what I don't get is the sense of urgency attached to all of this. It's as though some deadline is coming and you'll be faulted for not having corrected the problem of letting something be named after a person we've decided (some of us, anyway) has been overrated.

For the record, this has been three years in the making:

The decision by the San Francisco Board of Education in a 6-1 vote Tuesday night affects one-third of the city's schools and came nearly three years after the board started considering the idea.

And of course, in the meantime, George Floyd, which changes everything, doesn't it?
I was sympathizing with the black, female mayor, dealing with the pandemic and all, but there's no reason you have to.

[marshwiggle]

Honest Abe said some things that would not go over well today.  His sanitized hagiographies leave out those quotes.  I suppose we could just give each school a number or name it after inanimate objects like minerals and fungi.  A similar effort is going on now in Chicago where they identified over 30 schools named after people who owned slaves. 

Look into the Taliban's side of the story with regard to the statues.  From Mullah Omar:

I did not want to destroy the Bamiyan Buddha. In fact, some foreigners came to me and said they would like to conduct the repair work of the Bamiyan Buddha that had been slightly damaged due to rains. This shocked me. I thought, these callous people have no regard for thousands of living human beings—the Afghans who are dying of hunger, but they are so concerned about non-living objects like the Buddha. This was extremely deplorable. That is why I ordered its destruction. Had they come for humanitarian work, I would have never ordered the Buddha's destruction

I see. A snit over other peoples' messed up priorities is a good reason to destroy things. He'd totally understand the riots last summer and Jan. 6.

BTW, what foreigners' actions were responsible for girls being forbidden to go to school?

[mahagonny]

I did not know it was three years in the making. Thanks for the info, Para.

"This is an opportunity for our students to learn about the history of our school's names, including the potential new ones," Board President Gabriela López said. "This resolution came to the school board in the wake of the attacks in Charlottesville, and we are working alongside the rest of the country to dismantle symbols of racism and white supremacy culture. I am excited about the ideas schools will come up with."

Somehow, I doubt the folks in North Dakota, Texas and Wyoming would tell you they are working alongside the school board in San Francisco.

[Hibush]

I suppose we could just ... name it after inanimate objects like ... fungi. 

This idea has merit. Such naming supports the study of the natural sciences and helps counteract the stunning blindness most kids have of the natural world.  It is workable as long as we can keep the taxonomists from changing the name of the fungus every few years.

[marshwiggle]

I suppose we could just ... name it after inanimate objects like ... fungi. 

This idea has merit. Such naming supports the study of the natural sciences and helps counteract the stunning blindness most kids have of the natural world.  It is workable as long as we can keep the taxonomists from changing the name of the fungus every few years.

Here's my prediction for what would happen: Some mischevious online community ties the school board in knots by starting to use whatever name they've chosen as a euphemism for something else. "Aaardvark Elementary"? Aardvark will be used to refer to some weird sexual practice and then the board will desperately have to rename. Repeat and rinse.
When any hint of scandal is enough to get someone (on in this case, something) cancelled, the dust will never settle.

[dismalist]

I suppose we could just ... name it after inanimate objects like ... fungi. 

This idea has merit. Such naming supports the study of the natural sciences and helps counteract the stunning blindness most kids have of the natural world.  It is workable as long as we can keep the taxonomists from changing the name of the fungus every few years.

I much prefer numbers, as was a naming convention for defense related factories in the former Soviet Union. This would make clear the collectivist nature of the undertaking as well as enhancing pupils' arithmetic proficiency.

[marshwiggle]

I suppose we could just ... name it after inanimate objects like ... fungi. 

This idea has merit. Such naming supports the study of the natural sciences and helps counteract the stunning blindness most kids have of the natural world.  It is workable as long as we can keep the taxonomists from changing the name of the fungus every few years.

I much prefer numbers, as was a naming convention for defense related factories in the former Soviet Union. This would make clear the collectivist nature of the undertaking as well as enhancing pupils' arithmetic proficiency.

Oh, "Square root of 49 Public School"? I like that. The possibilities are endless.

[writingprof]

If you think that it is no big deal to rename schools because Lincoln et al. were racist ("racist"), you literally cannot be reasoned with, only defeated. On the other hand, I suppose the school renamers would say the same thing about me.

[Parasaurolophus]

If you think that it is no big deal to rename schools because Lincoln et al. were racist ("racist"), you literally cannot be reasoned with, only defeated. On the other hand, I suppose the school renamers would say the same thing about me.

I don't think it's a big deal to rename schools period. Why do you think it is?

[Anselm]

I suppose we could just ... name it after inanimate objects like ... fungi. 

This idea has merit. Such naming supports the study of the natural sciences and helps counteract the stunning blindness most kids have of the natural world.  It is workable as long as we can keep the taxonomists from changing the name of the fungus every few years.

I much prefer numbers, as was a naming convention for defense related factories in the former Soviet Union. This would make clear the collectivist nature of the undertaking as well as enhancing pupils' arithmetic proficiency.

I was on the verge of writing something about numbers for school names like they do with some public schools in NYC and Parisian universities.  However, certain numbers have special meanings to extremist groups so basically you can't win. 

[dismalist]

If you think that it is no big deal to rename schools because Lincoln et al. were racist ("racist"), you literally cannot be reasoned with, only defeated. On the other hand, I suppose the school renamers would say the same thing about me.

I don't think it's a big deal to rename schools period. Why do you think it is?

So names don't matter?