Kimberly of Number 2 Pencil has a post about the chuckleheads in the People's Republic of Berkeley who want to change the name of Thomas Jefferson Elementary School because, you guessed it, TJ owned slaves. Usually I grow weary with such stories of PC idiocy but Kimberly threw in a tidbit (thanks to EIA) that just made the whole thing worthwhile:
For a group so grimly determined to be outraged, one wonders why they chose to live in a city named Berkeley. The city was named after the philosopher and Anglican bishop George Berkeley (1685-1753), who purchased and worked slaves on his Rhode Island plantation.
Take that!
Darren: Thought you'd appreciate the exchanges on Polski3's blog. Check out the comments:
ReplyDeletehttp://polski3.blogspot.com/2005/06/union-mantra-mooooore-mooooooore.html
Luv this Post!!
ReplyDelete"American Indians", a single term for a large and "diverse" group of several separate and independent tribes, practiced many things we don't think too highly of today. I hadn't heard of slavery (at least in the areas of what is today the Lower 48) but have heard of theft and slash-and-burn farming.
ReplyDeleteBut maybe they were naming it after the tree?