By Dr. Harold A. Black
In 2013 Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee labelled the naming of hurricanes as racist and wondered why the National Hurricane Center didn’t have black names for hurricanes. They have “white” names and Hispanic names but no black names. Look at the names for future hurricanes (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames.shtml). There is not a Lebron, Oprah, LaToya or LaTeisha to be found. So in today’s climate in which the accusation of racist is bandied about one wonders why the “woke” crowd hasn’t spoken up about the naming of hurricanes.
But what’s in a name. We have seen an onslaught to change the names of sports teams. In professional sports the Cleveland Indians will soon be the Guardians. Since it is home to the Rock and Roll Museum I thought Cleveland Rocks would have been a better name. When Cincinnati got a professional football team, I submitted Cleveland Queens as a possible name since it’s called the Queen City. It was rejected in favor or the Bengals which have no connection whatsoever to the city. We have seen the following:
Houston Colt 45s to Astros
Washington Bullets to Wizards
Washington Redskins to Football Team
Buffalo Braves to Clippers
Interestingly, there have been 52 major leaguers who were Native Americans. Perhaps the most famous was Jim Thorpe who played with the Giants and notably the 1919 Boston Braves. More modern players are Jacoby Ellsbury and Joba Chamberlain.
We still have the Atlanta Braves, Chicago Blackhawks, Golden State Warriors and Kansas City Chiefs. But I grew up in Atlanta where the minor league baseball team was the Atlanta Crackers and the Negro league team was the Atlanta Black Crackers. I kid you not.
Watch out Jimmy Haslam, some of the cancel culture crowd is bound to come after the Cleveland Browns – not knowing that the team is named after its legendary owner/coach Paul Brown.
More than a dozen college teams led first by Stanford changed their names. But we still have the Florida State Seminoles, Central Michigan Chippewas, Catawba Indians, Utah Utes, Illinois Fighting Illini, and the Texas Tech Red Raiders. What about the San Diego State Aztecs and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (an ethnic slur if ever there was one)
We also still have the Ole Miss Rebels and the UNLV Rebels. I found it amusing when I was watching a basketball game and Ole Miss had five black players on the court and the announcer yelled ‘Here come the Rebels!”. Dixie State University (Utah) Rebels is changing to Utah Tech Trailblazers. Yet weren’t the trailblazers a bunch of white explorers who paved the way for white expropriation of Indian lands?
I wonder when the animal rights activists will start protesting nicknames like the South Carolina Gamecocks or the arborists will protest the Ohio State Buckeyes? And weren’t the original Tennessee Volunteers made up of Indian fighters, slave holders and white supremacists? Davy Crockett was an Indian fighter. Andrew Jackson was a white supremacist who led the Volunteers at the Battle of New Orleans and also was a loathsome slave holder, a vocal racist and force behind the Trail of Tears. He conscripted 500 slaves to fight in the Battle of New Orleans promising emancipation. He reneged and returned them all to slavery.
Lastly, do the Progressives realize that Joe Biden is living in the White House?