The_Squid Posted January 23, 2017 Report Share Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) Calgary will be renaming a bridge because the person it's named for was a key person in establishing the residential school system. The bridge is being renamed "Reconciliation Bridge". Is this a good thing? Is it too "PC"? Should we erase the names of founders from landmarks if they were also responsible for some terrible actions? Where do we draw the line? Quote An important part of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples is to acknowledge and understand the good and the bad aspects of our shared history, according to the notice of motion. "There'll be plaques that will actually talk about the history of the bridge, that will talk about Mr. Langevin and the good things he did and why the bridge was named after him for so long," Mayor Naheed Nenshi said. "But they'll also say in 2017, the community decided to use this bridge as a symbol for our ongoing reconciliation and our ongoing walking together on a path towards mutual prosperity and success." Nenshi says a re-dedication ceremony for the bridge will be held later this year. The name change was recommended by the city's Aboriginal Urban Affairs committee. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/reconciliation-bridge-langevin-residential-schools-indigenous-calgary-council-1.3942534 http://www.cbc.ca/radio/the180/why-men-are-dying-of-drug-overdoses-condos-are-tiny-houses-and-conflict-of-interest-1.3942875/bridges-of-reconciliation-literally-1.3944969 Edited January 23, 2017 by The_Squid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyeball Posted January 23, 2017 Report Share Posted January 23, 2017 This is PC I can easily get behind. There's a school in my region that was named after a local elected official who was also a well known racist with repugnant views. Listening to folks who are OK with keeping the schools name the same because everyone held similar views back then only underscores why it should be changed IMO. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H10 Posted January 23, 2017 Report Share Posted January 23, 2017 Everything is PC by your brigade, there is a contingent of people labelling everything pc, even questioning if something is pc, is pc! Rename the bridge, hell, we renamed everything when we killed all the red and blacks and stole the land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercoma Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 (edited) . Edited January 30, 2017 by cybercoma 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 Mandela Towers! They should call it whatever they want. They'll change it again when they feel like it. At least Churchill's bust is back in the White House. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Squid Posted January 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 1 hour ago, bcsapper said: Mandela Towers! They should call it whatever they want. They'll change it again when they feel like it. At least Churchill's bust is back in the White House. So you're of the opinion that we will discover that reconciliation with indigenous people was a bad idea and change the name of it to "Segregation Bridge" or something? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 20 minutes ago, The_Squid said: So you're of the opinion that we will discover that reconciliation with indigenous people was a bad idea and change the name of it to "Segregation Bridge" or something? Well, they might name it after the river, or a Prime Minister, or an Astronaut, or something. They would have my blessing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-TSS- Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 If you name something after a person then at least that person should be dead. Otherwise it seems like cult of persomality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PIK Posted January 25, 2017 Report Share Posted January 25, 2017 Chinamen mountain in BC or something like that was named for the 1st guy to climb it, what is it called now?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxme Posted February 17, 2017 Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 On 1/23/2017 at 6:38 PM, bcsapper said: Mandela Towers! They should call it whatever they want. They'll change it again when they feel like it. At least Churchill's bust is back in the White House. What? Churchill's bust was removed from the White House? I didn't know that. I guess Obama had something to do with that. I wonder if Obama was going to have a bust made of some muslim hero, and have it mounted in the White House. Hey, you never know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hardner Posted February 17, 2017 Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 3 hours ago, taxme said: What? Churchill's bust was removed from the White House? I didn't know that. I guess Obama had something to do with that. I wonder if Obama was going to have a bust made of some muslim hero, and have it mounted in the White House. Hey, you never know. https://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/28/the-great-bust-incident-part-ii/ Some people don't have a good habit of sniffing out these fake stories. I heard a similar one about MLK's bust in the Trump White House, which I could tell was fake. But I checked. Turns out they are related: http://www.snopes.com/mlk-bust-oval-office/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hardner Posted February 17, 2017 Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 Identity politics like this need some space. It's politics after all, so a discussion needs to happen and so on. But the simpler and more divisive topics are taking way too much space in public debate. They get more attention is why. Hopefully politics will soon become boring again and nerds will take us back to a simpler time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-TSS- Posted February 17, 2017 Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 In the aftermath and hysteria following Diana's death they almost renamed the Heathrow airport Princess Diana international airport. Fortunately, sense returned before they made any such decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Squid Posted February 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 (edited) Indigenous MPs are asking for a wing of the Parliament Buildings to change its name because it was named after someone who "advocated for a residential school system that would separate children from their families with the goal of creating a more “civilized” people. “If you leave them in the family they may already know how to read and write, but they still remain savages,” Langevin told Parliament in 1883. “Whereas by separating them in the way proposed, they acquire the habits and tastes—it is to be hoped only the good tastes—of civilized people.”" http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674indigenous_mps_urge_government_to_rename_parliament_building/ Should this building be renamed because Langevin, essentially, advocated for the state kidnapping native kids to make them un-native. We know that this policy caused the abuses deaths of many, many children. Where do we draw the line with erasing the names of people who were probably a product of their time, but still committed some heinous things against fellow humans. Quote “This type of action that puts history in its rightful place and urges Canadians not to celebrate those who created systems that killed thousands of Indigenous children is something that we have to think about,” said Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed in the same release. How many indigenous children should have died before his name is removed? Do the numbers of dead need to rise to Stalin-esque proportions before we think about renaming a landmark? Where is the line? Edited February 17, 2017 by The_Squid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Squid Posted February 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 (edited) On 1/25/2017 at 7:04 AM, PIK said: Chinamen mountain in BC or something like that was named for the 1st guy to climb it, what is it called now?? It's in Alberta. And Chinaman wasn't his name. Chinaman is a derogatory term that was used as the name because Ha Ling was Chinese. It was renamed to Ha Ling Peak. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ha_Ling_Peak Do you think it should have kept the name "Chinaman"? If a black person first climbed the mountain, do you think "Mt. Nigger" would have been an appropriate name? ETA: I don't think the term was used in a derogatory fashion at the time, but things change and using his real name kept the spirit and intent of why the mountain was named in the first place. Edited February 17, 2017 by The_Squid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argus Posted February 17, 2017 Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 11 minutes ago, The_Squid said: Indigenous MPs are asking for a wing of the Parliament Buildings to change its name because it was named after someone who "advocated for a residential school system that would separate children from their families with the goal of creating a more “civilized” people. “If you leave them in the family they may already know how to read and write, but they still remain savages,” Langevin told Parliament in 1883. “Whereas by separating them in the way proposed, they acquire the habits and tastes—it is to be hoped only the good tastes—of civilized people.”" In 1883 you'd have been hard pressed to find any of these guys in top hats who didn't think natives were savages. And the residential school idea, to 'civilize' them, probably seemed like a great idea to most of them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted February 17, 2017 Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 26 minutes ago, Argus said: In 1883 you'd have been hard pressed to find any of these guys in top hats who didn't think natives were savages. And the residential school idea, to 'civilize' them, probably seemed like a great idea to most of them. The horrors of an education. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Squid Posted February 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 1 hour ago, DogOnPorch said: The horrors of an education. Taking kids away from their homes was justified, in your opinion then? Dead kids or kids raped by priests was a small price to pay for an education? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted February 17, 2017 Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 1 minute ago, The_Squid said: Taking kids away from their homes was justified, in your opinion then? Dead kids or kids raped by priests was a small price to pay for an education? Yawn...I know the ol' game and how it's played. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Squid Posted February 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 (edited) 1 minute ago, DogOnPorch said: Yawn...I know the ol' game and how it's played. Completely nonsensical response. Why are you scared to give your opinion on this? Edited February 17, 2017 by The_Squid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted February 17, 2017 Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 Just now, The_Squid said: Completely nonsensical response. Practically everybody in this city I'm in is Native to some degree or another. At what point does one become white? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Squid Posted February 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 Just now, DogOnPorch said: Practically everybody in this city I'm in is Native to some degree or another. At what point does one become white? Another nonsensical response. You don't know what a Caucasian is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogOnPorch Posted February 17, 2017 Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 Just now, The_Squid said: Another nonsensical response. You don't know what a Caucasian is? Better yet...what's a REAL Native? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Squid Posted February 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 Just now, DogOnPorch said: Better yet...what's a REAL Native? More gibberish. You're saying that they didn't know what a native was back then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omni Posted February 17, 2017 Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 8 minutes ago, The_Squid said: Completely nonsensical response. Probably the feeblest attempt at defection I have seen in a long while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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