This quote from one of the experts rubbed me the wrong way -
"I am very supportive of the efforts to remove the names of slave-holders. I never thought about the possibility this could include people like Lincoln."
It seems to me, if you support renaming due to the namesake having done bad things, you should be consistent with that. If it's wrong to name a school George Washington because George owned slaves, then why is it okay to name a school after Lincoln the mass executioner?
I think a consistent objection to the renaming would be to say that we honor historical figures for their accomplishments and impact on our civilization, not for their flaws. When (or if) we name something after George Washington we aren't celebrating slavery, but rather independence or Washington's peaceful transition from power. If some bad things disqualify some people it seems really arbitrary to say that other bad things don't disqualify others.
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[ 107 ms ] story [ 1794 ms ] thread"I am very supportive of the efforts to remove the names of slave-holders. I never thought about the possibility this could include people like Lincoln."
It seems to me, if you support renaming due to the namesake having done bad things, you should be consistent with that. If it's wrong to name a school George Washington because George owned slaves, then why is it okay to name a school after Lincoln the mass executioner?
I think a consistent objection to the renaming would be to say that we honor historical figures for their accomplishments and impact on our civilization, not for their flaws. When (or if) we name something after George Washington we aren't celebrating slavery, but rather independence or Washington's peaceful transition from power. If some bad things disqualify some people it seems really arbitrary to say that other bad things don't disqualify others.