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1/28/2021 5:50 pm  #1


George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

It seems that San Francisco is thinking about changing their High Schools with the names George Washington, Lincoln, etc. to something else. I wonder if it would be dangerous to wear a GW hat or sweatshirt around that town?  Scary. 

 

1/28/2021 6:14 pm  #2


Re: George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

The measure is to eliminate racist names from City buildings. When the Catholic Church made Junipero Serra a saint this movement kicked off-- seems like honouring the guy who tried to wipe out First Nations cultures by forcing them to become Christian is not as popular a position as folks in the Vatican think. The University´s namesake is in trouble for his ownership of slaves, Lincoln was not so accepting of the FIrst Nations, and Balboa was a tad bloodthirsty. Considering the City´s long history of overt racism (what? you thought Chinatown was a voluntary grouping of the Chinese diaspora?) and the resistance to making ammends in other US cities --like any place that has statues of rebellious slavery supporters and traitors-- San Francisco is pushing to move faster than other parts of the country.
Don´t worry, your dollar bills and quarters are still accepted, even if the place is so goddamned expensive you can´t do much with them.

Last edited by GW Alum Abroad (1/28/2021 6:15 pm)

 

1/28/2021 6:31 pm  #3


Re: George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

Tennessee Colonial wrote:

It seems that San Francisco is thinking about changing their High Schools with the names George Washington, Lincoln, etc. to something else. I wonder if it would be dangerous to wear a GW hat or sweatshirt around that town?  Scary. 

If you consider that scary, you are living a very sheltered, privileged life. 

There are elected officials and staffers being targeted for assassination. There are Black people being killed regularly by police.  There are soldiers stationed in dangerous places overseas.  Our democracy is teetering on the brink of extinction. 

Wearing a GW hat in a city that may  change the name of high schools is not scary.  Give me a break.

 

1/29/2021 9:59 am  #4


Re: George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

Free Quebec wrote:

Tennessee Colonial wrote:

It seems that San Francisco is thinking about changing their High Schools with the names George Washington, Lincoln, etc. to something else. I wonder if it would be dangerous to wear a GW hat or sweatshirt around that town?  Scary. 

If you consider that scary, you are living a very sheltered, privileged life.

There are elected officials and staffers being targeted for assassination. There are Black people being killed regularly by police. There are soldiers stationed in dangerous places overseas. Our democracy is teetering on the brink of extinction.

Wearing a GW hat in a city that may change the name of high schools is not scary. Give me a break.

+1

 

1/29/2021 10:22 am  #5


Re: George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

Free Quebec wrote:

Tennessee Colonial wrote:

It seems that San Francisco is thinking about changing their High Schools with the names George Washington, Lincoln, etc. to something else. I wonder if it would be dangerous to wear a GW hat or sweatshirt around that town?  Scary. 

If you consider that scary, you are living a very sheltered, privileged life.

There are elected officials and staffers being targeted for assassination. There are Black people being killed regularly by police. There are soldiers stationed in dangerous places overseas. Our democracy is teetering on the brink of extinction.

Wearing a GW hat in a city that may change the name of high schools is not scary. Give me a break.

I don't think TC meant that literally. He can speak for himself but I think it was more a shot at the cancel culture.

But I admire the hysterics FQ. You talk about elected officials and staffers being targeted for assassination. Don't remember the same energy here when a Bernie Bros shot up a field of Republican Congressmen nearly killing Steve Scalise. The Secret Service and Capitol Police process thousands of threats every year against members and staffers of both parties. Nothing new unfortunately.

Not sure what your definition of "regular" is but are you saying that no killing of black (or white) by police is ever justified? Statistically, even assuming that one unjustified killing is too many, you should at least be heartened to know that this problem (unjustified shootings) is becoming less "regular" each year - not more "regular".

When in the last century have soldiers not been stationed in dangerous places overseas? But, in fact, there are less soldiers stationed in dangerous places overseas than there were just 4 years ago.

As far as our democracy teetering on the brink of extinction. I doubt it, chicken littles of the world notwithstanding. Our democracy has survived bigger tests than this. I am confident we are nowhere close to facing the extinction of democracy here.

 

Last edited by GWRising (1/29/2021 10:25 am)

 

1/29/2021 10:38 am  #6


Re: George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

Living in Newark, NJ was scary. Being threatened by  a hostile HS  basketball crowd while on the bench in 1968 was not fun. Being mugged by a gang while trick or treating as a kid was Not a sheltered, privileged life. Gang fights were so bad in NJ that HS football games were switched to 2 PM  in the afternoon or in the morning.  I was just noting that I wondered if I would get harassed if I wore my GW hat or have my car vandalized if I had a GW plate on it.  I'm not ashamed I went to GW!

     Thread Starter
 

1/29/2021 2:11 pm  #7


Re: George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

TC - with or without a GW plate, your car probably will be vandalized (broken in to). My home town (SF) is a hot mess. Even when I lived there (been gone for over twenty years now) it was a hot mess. I remember voting there. I always knew that I would be voting for the loser...everytime. And then there was a city proposal. A SFPD officer, who worked the schools, bringing with him his "partner", a ventriloquist dummy, got moved out of the schools (can't remember why, but it seemed justified). Moved to working the streets, he continued to do it with his "partner". Surprise of all surprises, he was ordered to leave the dummy at home, as it was felt that a one armed cop on the street might be a problem on the job.

Well, he got put on the ballot a proposal that would allow him to continue to work with the dummy while on the street. I was happy, for once I would win a race in the city. NO DUMMYS ON THE STREET'S OF SAN FRANCISCO I wanted to cheer (of course if you took that literally, the streets of San Francisco would have been empty).

The cop won his proposal 60 to 40 percent. Sigh. Hot mess I tell you.

Last edited by chrisw (1/29/2021 2:11 pm)

 

1/29/2021 3:16 pm  #8


Re: George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

GWRising wrote:

Free Quebec wrote:

Tennessee Colonial wrote:

It seems that San Francisco is thinking about changing their High Schools with the names George Washington, Lincoln, etc. to something else. I wonder if it would be dangerous to wear a GW hat or sweatshirt around that town?  Scary. 

If you consider that scary, you are living a very sheltered, privileged life.

There are elected officials and staffers being targeted for assassination. There are Black people being killed regularly by police. There are soldiers stationed in dangerous places overseas. Our democracy is teetering on the brink of extinction.

Wearing a GW hat in a city that may change the name of high schools is not scary. Give me a break.

But I admire the hysterics FQ. You talk about elected officials and staffers being targeted for assassination. Don't remember the same energy here when a Bernie Bros shot up a field of Republican Congressmen nearly killing Steve Scalise. The Secret Service and Capitol Police process thousands of threats every year against members and staffers of both parties. Nothing new unfortunately.

 

One person shooting and almost killing congresspeople is bad. A couple of thousand people violently storming the Capitol building, chanting to hang the vp, setting up a noose in front of the Capitol to use to hang public officials, murdering a police officer and injuring about 100 other officers, all after being encouraged by the president and other Republican elected officials because they wanted to overturn the results of an election...........is worse.

 

1/29/2021 4:16 pm  #9


Re: George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

Hugh if your point is that violence is bad and should be punished no matter the cause, we'll agree. But where was that energy this summer when many more officers were hurt or killed across this country? You know the summer when Democratic officials raised bail for violent protestors, pushed for leniency and either encouraged or condoned the violence as cities burned, lives were lost and businesses destroyed. Nobody has clean hands here. Nobody.

Last edited by GWRising (1/29/2021 4:17 pm)

 

1/29/2021 5:00 pm  #10


Re: George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

Jeepers. I thought this was a thread about how the University may have to face historical reckoning for being named for a slave owner who happened to have been a president (or vice versa). Now it is about who racked up the bigger body count between the former neighbor´s army of mouth breathers, the Boys in Blue and anti-racism protesters? Just remember, the events at the Capitol led to a GW game getting cancelled (and another one moved to the cultural void known as Fairfax), and as a GW basketball board that affects us all no matter the politics.

 

1/30/2021 9:59 am  #11


Re: George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

GWRising wrote:

Hugh if your point is that violence is bad and should be punished no matter the cause, we'll agree. But where was that energy this summer when many more officers were hurt or killed across this country? You know the summer when Democratic officials raised bail for violent protestors, pushed for leniency and either encouraged or condoned the violence as cities burned, lives were lost and businesses destroyed. Nobody has clean hands here. Nobody.

Your response is the functional equivalent of responding to the BLM with “all lives matter.”

 

1/30/2021 10:33 am  #12


Re: George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

Free Quebec wrote:

GWRising wrote:

Hugh if your point is that violence is bad and should be punished no matter the cause, we'll agree. But where was that energy this summer when many more officers were hurt or killed across this country? You know the summer when Democratic officials raised bail for violent protestors, pushed for leniency and either encouraged or condoned the violence as cities burned, lives were lost and businesses destroyed. Nobody has clean hands here. Nobody.

Your response is the functional equivalent of responding to the BLM with “all lives matter.”

Nice try but not even close. More like showing the hypocrisy of some when they are only concerned about particular violence. In other words, some violence is ok when it suits their interests but when it doesn't ... Sad.

 

1/30/2021 11:24 am  #13


Re: George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

Yet the FBI considers domestic right wing terrorism as a major threat to the country, not violence from the left.  Of course using demonstrations as an excuse for looting is clearly wrong, in terms of a threat to the country itself, I think it is hard to argue that this pales in comparison to an invasion of the Capitol by right wing extremists, many of whom were bent on violence against our elected officials.   Likewise, although I am not given to hyperbole (except of course when it comes to GW basketball), I truly believe that our democracy is in danger, which began with New Gingrich's "contract with America" and culminating with Trump's "stop the steal".   We now have a Congress that is so polarized that the only governing that gets done is through executive order rather than legislation.   Democrats get in and undo by executive order everything done by a Republican Administration, and same with the Republicans.  What I miss is the back room dealing, away from the camera, where both parties can reach a compromised agreement, slap the names of a Republican and Democrat on it, then enact it into legislation.   

 

1/30/2021 11:27 am  #14


Re: George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

Back to the subject at hand...although I am a card carrying progressive democrat, where we run astray is when we apply 21st century morality to 18th and 19th century people.  Yes, some people were so despicable that they need to be condemned, even 250 years after the fact, but George Washington?  C'mon. 

 

1/30/2021 11:40 am  #15


Re: George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

Here is where GWrising's comparison breaks down.  He was apt to make the comparison because both BLM protests and the protest on the Hill to overturn the election results each included peaceful protesters.  Any peaceful protester has the right to protest in my book even if I am in disagreement with the position.  The enormous difference is that The Capitol Hill rioters were a subset of the protesters.  They are the extremists who thought it was fine to break into the Capitol and attempt to murder democratic politicians plus Mike Pence.  The BLM looters were not so my protesters as they were vile opportunists.  These are people whose cause was not BLM.  Instead, it was an opportunity to help themselves to stolen merchandise with a very low likelihood of getting caught.  While we have seen the unpleasantness of looting throughout our lives, we clearly have never seen anything approaching American citizens wreaking havoc upon our own most sacred historical institutions.  If we are trying to compare the severity of these irreprehensible actions, those who stormed the Capitol take first place hands down.

 

1/30/2021 12:01 pm  #16


Re: George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

Gwmayhem wrote:

Here is where GWrising's comparison breaks down.  He was apt to make the comparison because both BLM protests and the protest on the Hill to overturn the election results each included peaceful protesters.  Any peaceful protester has the right to protest in my book even if I am in disagreement with the position.  The enormous difference is that The Capitol Hill rioters were a subset of the protesters.  They are the extremists who thought it was fine to break into the Capitol and attempt to murder democratic politicians plus Mike Pence.  The BLM looters were not so my protesters as they were vile opportunists.  These are people whose cause was not BLM.  Instead, it was an opportunity to help themselves to stolen merchandise with a very low likelihood of getting caught.  While we have seen the unpleasantness of looting throughout our lives, we clearly have never seen anything approaching American citizens wreaking havoc upon our own most sacred historical institutions.  If we are trying to compare the severity of these irreprehensible actions, those who stormed the Capitol take first place hands down.

Where does ANTIFA fit-in? Particularly in Portland and Seattle? Extremists or Opportunists?

How about those who assassinate police officers? Extremists or Opportunists?

How about the eco terrorists? Extremists or Opportunists?

Seriously?

 

1/30/2021 12:05 pm  #17


Re: George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

Long Suffering Fan wrote:

Yet the FBI considers domestic right wing terrorism as a major threat to the country, not violence from the left.  Of course using demonstrations as an excuse for looting is clearly wrong, in terms of a threat to the country itself, I think it is hard to argue that this pales in comparison to an invasion of the Capitol by right wing extremists, many of whom were bent on violence against our elected officials.   Likewise, although I am not given to hyperbole (except of course when it comes to GW basketball), I truly believe that our democracy is in danger, which began with New Gingrich's "contract with America" and culminating with Trump's "stop the steal".   We now have a Congress that is so polarized that the only governing that gets done is through executive order rather than legislation.   Democrats get in and undo by executive order everything done by a Republican Administration, and same with the Republicans.  What I miss is the back room dealing, away from the camera, where both parties can reach a compromised agreement, slap the names of a Republican and Democrat on it, then enact it into legislation.   

Just looting? Did you forget how many police officers were killed and injured this summer? How about arson? Is that not a crime anymore? How many government buildings were destroyed (courthouses, police stations, etc.) or is only the Capitol that matters?

Actually the FBI considers political extremism from right and left a threat if you read the reports. The media has just chosen to amplify one side of it so I can see why you are confused.

 

1/30/2021 12:10 pm  #18


Re: George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

The larger and most despicable point is some think they have the moral high ground on this as if violence only exists on one side of spectrum or that some violence is more defensible. I learned as a kid that those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks. The biggest threat to democracy will come from marginalizing some violence and overstating other violence for political purposes.

 

1/30/2021 12:47 pm  #19


Re: George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

Actually, the heightened alert national terrorism advisory issued by the FBI is against right wing extremists upset with the results of the presidential election.    Fact is, although there is violence that may be attributable to both sides, there is nothing on the left akin to the organized violence on the right, be it from the so-called militia groups that conspired to kidnap a sitting governor to the organized attack on the Capitol.   It is not the left but the right who are driving cars into crowds of protesters, shooting protesters to death, blowing up office buildings (haven't forgotten Timothy McVay), waiving Nazi and Confederate flags, etc.   And this is without even getting into such long standing right wing groups such as the Ku Klux Kan.   GWRising...I am a Democrat but I respect many of the Republican positions, such as fiscal conservatism and support for the police, but the extremists that they have embraced over the years, culminating with Trump, there whacko conspiracy theories, their denial of science, as well as their sheer hypocricy of so many of so many of their current  positions...I really hope are more "Larry Hogan or George Will" than one of those folks.

Last edited by Long Suffering Fan (1/30/2021 12:51 pm)

 

1/30/2021 2:07 pm  #20


Re: George Washington name to be removed in San Francisco?

I have moved this topic as it has strayed from anything related to basketball and involves political opinions. Well this is a worthy discussion, it is more appropriate for her to be here. Thanks for your understanding.

Barry

 

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