OPINION:
Let the history revising go on — on the heels of tear-downs and petitions for tear-downs of Civil War-era monuments and statues, now comes this: A student at James Madison Memorial High School in Madison, Wisconsin, wants the school’s name changed, because it offends.
Madison was a slave owner. And that makes the school “unsafe” for black students, senior Mya Berry whined. Heck, why stop with the school? The city she lives in — Madison — evokes the same name, does it not?
The girl’s got names, though — 1,500 or so of them so far.
Her Change.org petition states, in part: “The significance of this name in association with my school has a negative effect on memorials black students. The lack of representation I feel in this school makes me feel more than unsafe. I do not feel supported by the majority of staff at memorial, especially considering the fact that I’ve gotten called n word multiple times, along with having an individual threaten me by telling me they would lynch me.”
OK. Need more be said here?
This one girl feels like there aren’t enough black people surrounding her, and in her mind, that’s called discrimination and racism.
She also whines in her petition that when race is discussed at school, she’s “told my perspective is just an opinion, and not anything valid to take into consideration.”
As if one girl’s thoughts — opinions — ought to rightly transform an entire school.
She went on in her petition about the years of “incidents” of injustice and intimidation she’s allegedly felt during her four years at the school. But this is pretty much news to anyone who would’ve been in a position to do anything about the injustice — if in fact it ever occurred. Even the school principal was puzzled at Berry’s allegations, telling the local paper he’s recently met with her to discuss her concerns but that “the specific incidents mentioned in the petition were [n]ever reported to school staff.”
And yet, the solution to all this, in Berry’s mind: Tear down this school’s name.
The snowflake mindset — gotta love it. Any perceived offense is cause for loud cries for resistance — even though the path of resistance makes absolutely no sense. Madison was a Founding Father and a key contributor to the formation of Virginia’s Constitution — which, of course, was a key basis of the U.S. Constitution. But he owned slaves, as many at the time did. Shall we tear up the Constitution, as well?
Sadly, pitifully, in Berry’s mind, the answer to that question would be a resounding yes.
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