Category Archives: Political Correctness

Editors note: The Orlando Sentinel posted this column on Friday, which provoked quite a controversy, some praise and a lot of criticism, including this pointed tweet from Democratic state Rep. Anna V. Eskamani, who represents Orlando: So this adult man from Las Vegas is mad about Disney removing racist characters and animatronic rapists from their rides? Did I get that right? Here is the original column.

My family and I have been loyal Disney customers for decades. We vacation at Disney World every year. We take a Disney cruise every year or two. Consequently, we spend way too much money in Orlando.

Unfortunately, I am strongly rethinking our commitment to Disney and, thus, Orlando. The more Disney moves away from the values and vision of Walt Disney, the less Disney World means to me. Disney is forgetting that guest immersion is at the core of its business model. When I stand in Galaxys Edge or Fantasyland, I know I am in a theme park but through immersion and my willingness to set the real world aside, something magical happens.

That spell is broken when the immersive experience is shattered by the real world. And boy, has Disney been breaking the immersion.

Recently, Disney announced that cast members are now permitted to display tattoos, wear inclusive uniforms and display inclusive haircuts. Disney did all of this in the name of allowing cast members to express themselves.

The problem is, Im not traveling across the country and paying thousands of dollars to watch someone I do not know express themselves. I am there for the immersion and the fantasy, not the reality of a strangers self-expression. I do not begrudge these people their individuality and I wish them well in their personal lives, but I do not get to express my individuality at my place of business.

Whats next, is Disney going to end the rule barring on stage cellphone use by cast members as an infringement on self-expression?

More broadly, like many corporations, Disney has been politicizing its business. Full disclosure: I am a Christian and a conservative Republican, so the people who run Disney and I do not see eye to eye.

Regardless, corporations have always made politically motivated decisions. Usually, it is due to the desire to make a profit, but sometimes it is due to the values of the people in the corporation. Walt Disney used his corporation to express his patriotism during World War II and his pro-capitalism beliefs afterward. The difference today is that the people who run Disney use social media to scream to the whole world that a decision has been made for political reasons.

Disney is in the process of taking the woke scalpel to the Jungle Cruise. Trader Sam is out because he might offend certain people. Every grown-up in the room realizes that Trader Sam is not a representation of reality and is meant as a funny and silly caricature. It is no more based in racism than every Disney caricature of an out-of-touch white American dad.

The next time I ride Jungle Cruise I will not be thinking about the gloriously entertaining puns of the skippers, I will be thinking about Disneys political agenda. Thats a mood killer.

Disney proclaims that Splash Mountain must change because of its association with Song of the South. Disney owns Splash Mountain so it can do what it wants. But if Disney screams at the top of its corporate voice, which is pretty loud, that it is changing it to appease a certain political point of view, now every time I look at the ride I am thinking about politics.

The same with Pirates of the Caribbean. Disney has made significant changes to Pirates of the Caribbean over the years. Whether Disney caved to political pressure or really thought the alterations were necessary is irrelevant.

Pirates used to be one of my favorite attractions. My family would always ride it first on our first day at the Magic Kingdom. Now, we do not even ride it every trip. When my family rides Pirates now, each of the changed scenes takes us out of the illusion because they remind us of reality and the politics that forced the changes.

Disney World is going to lose us as customers if it continues down this path. I do not want to have Disney World taken away from us because Disney cares more about politics than happy guests.

This should matter to the people of Orlando because, if Disney drives away customers like me, Orlando loses money. I can take my tourist dollars elsewhere. I would rather keep spending them in Orlando but people like me feel more and more excluded by Disneys decisions.

The parks are less fun because immersion and thus the joy is taking a back seat to politics.

Disney, please return to the values and vision of Walt. The customer experience should be the core of your business model. Immersion should not be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness and appeasing the Twitter mob.

Jonathan VanBoskerck lives in North Las Vegas, Nevada. He wrote this for the Orlando Sentinel.

2021 Orlando Sentinel. Visit at orlandosentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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I love Disney World, but wokeness is ruining the experience | Column - Tampa Bay Times

All education is self education. If we examine the process of learning attentively, what other truly enduring education can there be?

As COVIDrestrictions loosen and more children return to school, now is the perfect time to ask ourselves, What is the legitimate purpose of formal schooling? To learn what?

Because of previous, government-dictated isolation, everyone seems focused on socialization skills learned by interaction with youngsters in classrooms, extracurricular activities, and with adult teachers.

But what of formal education as authentic knowledge-skill learning?

The recent health hiatus provides a good time to do precisely that. The three Rs,Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic must be restored as the sturdy foundation. These three basic knowledge-skills in particular prepare students for later independent living away from home. English is (and should be) Americas common language, so the first two Rs cover that.

When 17th, 18th, 19-century immigrants came to our shores from Germany, France, Italy, Holland, etc. they all learned English, the language of the first settlers comprising a majority of inhabitants.

If they didnt, their children did. All countries today still have a national language, and in spite of PC advocates its English in America. Every child in America should learn English, and the subject also should include writing the English language properly.

There is such a thing as grammar, and grammar should be taught not only for skill but also for discipline. Grammar is structure, and learning structure teaches young minds to recognize and create structure in all skills, including the exercise of reason and logical non-contradictory thought. Math beyond any credibility is often racially politicized now but absolutely necessary for everything from cooking to paying bills; calculators do not suffice (and batteries required).

Correct not politically correct national/world history (including geography) comes next; without accurate knowledge of the past the future cannot be charted productively.

Unfortunately history is now massively distorted to address social-emotional sensitivities, turning teachers into amateur psychologists. Science: at least biology. Ethics: not according to any religion but according to facts of human nature.

Humans are not born with behavioral instincts like lower animals; humans must make choices and decide the best behavior to implement for optimum survival.

Physical wellness: sports and fitness but not sex and gender issues; personal subjects are the purview of parents not teachers.

Underestimated art skills round out the mandatory program: See The Fourth R in Education: Reading, WRiting, ARithmetic, and ARt for specific details.

Now is past time for responsible parents to vigorously participate with school boards and teachers as to what their children should be taught . . . or not. Way past time to stop teachers from pushing PC doctrine; current-day politics do not belong in classrooms children need to learn how to think not what to think. Time to foster curiosity and ambition.

Children are not minds to be molded, they are young human beings each one an individual Self who need to experience the efficacy of formulating and asking questions, the thrill of individual achievement, and the desire to learn . . . a desire that should remain energetic long after formal schooling is over.

Humans are self-created creatures who are never finished because there is always more to learn, new subjects to explore, different skills to be mastered. Its the yearn to learn that must be fostered in the young, not the need to conform and assimilate into group-think which stifles individualism completely. . . as is the plan of too many educators today.

The desire and ability to self educate as an independent adult should be the goal of formal education for the young. Adult self-inspired learning should be the result of a formal education that sets preliminary standards and skills to be improved and expanded after graduation. In the end, all learning is self taught.

Teachers and parents can lead the way, but children have free will, too, and should be encouraged to find pleasure in self-motivated learning on their own as adults.

Today, the teaching profession in America is destructive rather than instructive. Tenure keeps inferior, lazy, or blatantly proselytizing teachers in undeserved positions. Unions aggressively demand ever-increasing monetary profit and benefits for teachers rather than encouraging members to focus on profit and benefits of learning for students.

Political Correctness and Identity Politics concoct the poisonous brew that nurtures not independent thinking but kills independent thought.

The American educational system is a disaster. Parents of means can decide which private school is best for their children but, aside from homeschooling, parents whose children must attend public institutions should seek out (or endeavor to establish) charter schools.

These schools are government (tax-payer) funded but operate independently from a state system that forces conformity via government-dictated curricula; thus, they are far superior in providing genuine education. Religious schools, too, are usually educationally reliable, so even nonreligious but concerned parents can select that option.

Above all, sincere and dedicated teachers must stand up for rational standards and the good of students. Parents must stand up to teachers. Why? Because children are rapidly becoming the ever increasing collateral damage wrought by power lustful politicians and private-sector supporters who would tyrannize all Americans into obedience and annihilate the last of our heritage as a free people. To the advantage of these would-be dictators (many not even clandestine anymore) the COVIDpandemic laid fortuitous groundwork for docile submission and surrender of independence to become culturally endemic.

Fearlessness must now replace fear, or by destroying the minds of our youth the future America as an ideawill be swept into the dustbin of history.

Please see these related articles:

On parenting and dicipline.

Regarding the critical inportance of family life.

And, on art education in the digital world.

Alexandra York is an author and founding president of the American Renaissance for the Twenty-first Century (ART) a New-York-City-based nonprofit educational arts and culture foundation. She has written for many publications, including Readers Digest and The New York Times. Her latest book is The Innocent. For more on Alexandra York, Go Here Now.

2021 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

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Educating the Self in School - KMJ Now

The decision of the Asheville City Council to tear down the Vance Monument has left a bitter taste in certain mouths, some of which have gotten quite loud. Heres a thought experiment that might help put things in perspective:

Long ago, lets say 1897, the people of Buncombeville erected a 65-foot statue in the shape of a gigantic fish and dedicated it to Jesus Christ: Savior. Healer. Orator. Rebel. Winemaker.

At the time, most people thought the structure was an eye-pleasing reflection of community values. The theme was subtle, but everyone knew there was an important symbolic connection between religion and fish. But that, they said, wasnt the main point. They just thought the sculpture looked cool, and they liked the guy in whose honor it was built. Pretty much everybody did, unless they belonged to a religious minority.

Some people thought the thing was kitsch, despite having been designed by a famous architect, and objected that the shape was so vague it was practically abstract art.

A few grumblers complained that religion should be a private matter, but, as one would expect, they kept that theory to themselves.

Decades later, the Supreme Court declared that the establishment clause applied to municipal governments under the 14th Amendment. Although people resented the idea of outsiders meddling in local affairs, and although they bristled at the implication that they had been doing something wrong all this time, and although they insisted that, in this modern era, folks had gotten so fed up with religious abuses that they no longer cared much about the sacred significance of the sculpture, and although they were deeply suspicious of political correctness in any form, a consensus eventually arose that something must be done about the Christ Monument.

Six members of the City Council wanted to tear down the fish and haul it away. They felt that the establishment of religion no longer represented the best values of the community, if it ever did, and it was time to make a clean break with the past.

One member proposed to deep-six the inscription but keep the stone structure standing and rename it The Scales of Justice. This approach, she said, would give the statue a secular purpose, free up the demolition money for more tangible needs and keep religious fanatics from taking revenge on the minority in the community who supported the Constitution.

Thats the end of the fable. Now its time for the moral, which you must work out for yourself.

Does the dissenting City Council member, well-meaning as she may be, go far enough in her efforts to cleanse an unacceptable religious taint from the public square? Does merely removing the reference to Jesus Christ really obliterate the association with the sacred that Buncombevilles landmark has always had? Isnt it worth spending a few bucks to make sure the job gets done right, once and for all?

And on whose counsel, moreover, should we rely for an answer? Shouldnt we give some deference to the collective judgment of the elected representatives? After all, they must face the voters if they get the balance of interests wrong.

Why should we pay any attention to a handful of fishy enthusiasts on social media who have done an about-face, seemingly out of nowhere, and decided that the association of the statue with religion was always repugnant to them, but nonrepresentational art for arts sake is still the bomb? I almost get the feeling that some of these converts secretly harbor sympathies for the old superstitions. What do you think?

Please keep your answers short and, if possible, respectful.

Peter RobbinsMarshall

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Letter: Putting the Vance Monument in perspective - Mountain Xpress

OPINION One of my favorite conservative publications, National Review, has devoted nearly its entire April 19, 2021 issue to an exodus from California. People may be leaving California, but data for all states from reliable sources on the Internet are difficult to find for 2020.

Two states in particular are boasting significant population growth Idaho and Arizona. South Dakota, according World Population Review, shows a growth rate of 1.17%, ranking us 11th in the country. South Dakotas population is estimated at 896,581, they say.

US News says the Census Bureau estimates California, Connecticut and Hawaii are among 16 states that lost population in 2020. New York is estimated to have lost the most population at 0.65% with Illinois close behind.

Of course, South Dakota and all the states in flyover country would love to see people from California come to our part of the world. By all means, hit Interstate 90 and check out the fine restaurants and beautiful scenery in and around Spearfish. Deadwood is a fun place where you can experience Vegas-like gaming and entertainment.

Rapid City has plenty to do. Of course, there are the Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse mountain carvings. Blue Ribbon trout streams wind their way through the entire Black Hills. Take I-90 east to Wall and get a donut and ice water. Continue east to the spectacular Missouri River for world-class guided walleye fishing and waterfowl hunting.

The beginning of August offers up a Corvette Rally, Mustang Rally, and of course you can join the hundreds of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts who come annually for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, where folks park their American-made V-Twin bikes on Main Street Sturgis and spend hours walking, talking and gawking. Sturgis Rally evenings are filled with nightly concerts from world-class artists.

Along the way, take a day to take in the Badlands and learn about Native American culture at Pine Ridge and Rosebud Indian Reservations. Later in the year, you can take in some famous guided pheasant hunts from Winner to Mitchell. Buy your first firearm at Cabelas in Rapid City or Mitchell.

Everything about South Dakota should be refreshing to anyone from one of the big cities from which Californians wish to escape. The states budget is balanced. We do not have unfunded government retirement programs. Our state government is even more lop-sided to the right than yours is to the left. Because we have far fewer people in our state than you have in several single municipalities, we dont have many politicians to deal with.

We have areas of actual, clean wide-open spaces. We have several wineries, a couple distilleries and numerous craft breweries. Weve got golf courses galore. If youre sports fan, you can take in great games at any local high school or American Legion post baseball field. Our State A and B High School Basketball Tournaments are as exciting as most college games by any reasonable persons standards and admission to those games is far more reasonable than anything the NBA or NFL might have to offer.

In short, if you decide to leave California and come to South Dakota, you are welcome to come here and spend your money, enjoy our hospitality, and see how the gun-toting conservative other half lives here in the middle of nowhere.

Maybe you can move your business here, and maybe you can hire some of our people and learn about the highly regarded high plains work ethic. If you would like to bring your condescending ultra-left political correctness and tax-and-spend policies, we will be happy to direct you south to Interstate 80, which you can swiftly take straight west all the way back to Sacramento.

Michael Sanborn writes from Rapid City.

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Leaving California in the rear-view mirror | Opinion | bhpioneer.com - Black Hills Pioneer

This weeks Newspoll, conducted April 21-24 from a sample of 1,510, gave Labor a 51-49 lead, a one-point gain for the Coalition since the previous Newspoll, four weeks ago. Primary votes were 41% Coalition (up one), 38% Labor (steady), 10% Greens (down one) and 3% One Nation (up one). Figures are from The Poll Bludger.

59% (up four) were satisfied with Scott Morrisons performance, and 37% (down three) were dissatisfied, for a net approval of +22, up seven points. Anthony Albaneses net approval fell five points to -3. Morrison led as better PM by 56-30 (52-32 four weeks ago).

In my article last fortnight, I suggested a backlash against political correctness was making sexual misbehaviour more acceptable. The Coalition and Morrisons recovery in this poll appears to validate that argument.

Read more: Has a backlash against political correctness made sexual misbehaviour more acceptable?

The adverse publicity regarding vaccination problems may have been expected to damage the government. But as long as there are very few local COVID cases, it appears the general public will forgive the rollout issues.

There is likely to be a strong economic recovery from COVID, and this is a problem for Labor. The new Resolve poll had the Coalition and Morrison ahead of Labor and Albanese by over 20 points on both the economy and COVID. In March, the unemployment rate was 5.6%, well down from the peak of 7.5% last July.

Many on the left want Albanese to resign in favour of a more left-wing candidate like Tanya Plibersek. But the polling indicates Labors leadership is not the problem, Morrisons popularity is. In fact, given Morrisons ratings, the Coalition would normally be expected to lead by a substantial margin.

Outside election campaigns, most voters pay little attention to the opposition. So its what the government does that drives voting intentions and the PMs popularity.

The Resolve Strategic poll will be conducted monthly for Nine newspapers from a normal sample of 1,600 interviewed by online methods. The first sample included an additional 400 live phone interviews. Fieldwork will be conducted during the month.

Every two months, state polls of Victoria and NSW will be released. Since Newspoll stopped doing regular state polling in 2015, there have been virtually no polls of either state outside election periods.

No two party vote is given, but primary votes in the first Resolve poll, with fieldwork up to April 16, were 38% Coalition, 33% Labor, 12% Greens and 6% One Nation.

One Nations vote is far higher than in Newspoll, but analyst Kevin Bonham says Newspoll is only asking for One Nation in seats they contested at the last election. Bonham estimates the two party vote from these primaries as a 50-50 tie.

Respondents were asked to rate the party leaders performance in recent weeks. Morrison had a 50% good, 38% poor rating (net +12), while Albanese was at 35% good, 41% poor (net -6). Morrison led Albanese as preferred PM by 47-25.

Voters were asked which party and leader would be better at various issues. However, offering someone else as an option disadvantages Labor, particularly on environmental issues where the Greens do best. The Coalition and Morrison led Labor and Albanese by 43-21 on economic management and by 42-20 on handling COVID.

In last fortnights Essential poll, Morrison had a 54-37 approval rating; his +17 net approval dropped five points from the late March poll.

The large gender gap in Morrisons ratings that I discussed last fortnight remained: his approval with men was 61%, but 46% with women. This gap was 16 points in late March.

Albaneses net approval was down four points from mid-March to +5, and Morrison led as better PM by 47-28 (52-26 in mid-March).

The federal government had a 62-17 good rating on its response to COVID (70-12 in mid-March). This reverts to about where its COVID response was before a spike in November. State governments also saw falls in their COVID ratings. If Labor had been in power federally, by 44-37 voters were confident that they would have dealt well with COVID.

While Essential continues to give the federal government strong COVID ratings, a Morgan SMS poll, conducted April 9-10 after Morrison announced the AstraZeneca vaccine would not be recommended for those under 50 had voters disapproving of Morrisons handling of COVID by 51-49.

The Tasmanian election will be held on Saturday. A uComms poll for the left-wing Australia Institute, conducted April 21 from a sample of 1,023, gave the Liberals 41.4%, Labor 32.1%, the Greens 12.4%, Independents 11.0% and Others 3.1%.

This poll is in marked contrast to the last publicly available Tasmanian poll: an EMRS poll in February that gave the Liberals 52%, Labor 27%, Greens 14% and 7% for all Others. I will have more details of the Tasmanian election in a post on Wednesday.

At the March 13 Western Australian election, Labor won 22 of the 36 upper house seats (up eight since 2017), the Liberals seven (down two), the Nationals three (down one), Legalise Cannabis two (up two), the Greens one (down three) and Daylight Saving one (up one). One Nation (three seats in 2017), the Shooters (one) and the Liberal Democrats (one) all failed to return to parliament.

This is the first time Labor has won a majority of seats in the WA upper house. They won 60.3% of the vote in the upper house, slightly higher than their 59.9% in the lower house. Labor won 21 of their 22 seats on raw quotas, and needed very slight help for their fourth seat in Mining and Pastoral region.

Read more: Labor obliterates Liberals in historic WA election; will win control of upper house for first time

Labor lost two seats they should have won to Legalise Cannabis under the Group Ticket Voting (GTV) system. That gave Legalise Cannabis double the seats of the Greens despite less than one-third of the Greens statewide vote (2.0% vs 6.4%).

The most ridiculous result occurred in the Mining and Pastoral region, where Daylight Saving were able to win a seat on just 98 first preference votes and 0.2% of the statewide vote. This occurred owing to both GTV and malapportionment. Every one of WAs six regions elects six members, even though the Agricultural region has just 6% of enrolled voters and the Mining and Pastoral region 4%.

ABC election analyst Antony Greens final lower house two party estimate is that Labor won by an Australian record for any state or territory of 69.7% to 30.3%, a 14.1% swing to Labor from what was already a thumping 2017 victory.

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Coalition and Morrison gain in Newspoll, and the new Resolve poll - The Conversation AU

Charita Goshay| Bluffton Today

This is the time of year when were reminded that no matter what else is happening in the country, we always have baseball. The sight of green fields and the crack of a bat always fills us anew with optimism.

Theres been criticism over Major League Baseballs plans to relocate the All-Star Game out of Georgia in response to a controversial voting-rights bill.

Viewed by some as a check-swing that went too far, the announcement was met with howls of threats to boycott the league for caving to political correctness and liberalism run amok.

Its resulted in lamentations about how even Americas quintessential game has been poisoned by politics.

You have to wonder where such people have been living.

The intrusion of politics into sports wasnt invented by Colin Kaepernick. Look no further than baseballs first commissioner, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who upheld collusion among team owners to keep Black players out of the game.

It meant that most fans never got the chance to see James Cool Papa Bell outrun light itself, or cheer as Josh Gibson crushed one of the hundreds of home runs that never reached the MLB record books until 2020 when the league added statistics from the Negro Leagues.

It took Ohios Branch Rickey, a team owner compelled by his faith, to dismantle the impasse by signing Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers. In his Major League debut against the Boston Braves on April 14, 1947, Robinson scored a run but got no hits in three at-bats.

It didnt matter because, at that moment, Americans found themselves witnesses to change and history.

Landis, who was hired to mitigate the leagues 1919 Black Sox gambling scandal, has a plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame for, we must suppose, saving the game, but frankly, he shouldnt.

He willfully helped to impede progress in a league that could have led the country toward inclusion decades before it actually did.

Baseball has always been Americas mirror, for better or worse.

Even after the league was integrated, Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax were threatened for refusing to play during the Jewish High Holy Days.

In recent years, various players have refused to visit the White House, depending on whos president.

Prior toits home opener, Clevelands front office announced that no baseball fans would be permitted to wear war paint or feather headdresses.

After years of being begged, petitioned and even picketed by Native Americans, Cleveland finally made the change because the country has changed and because as Maya Angelou so brilliantly put it, When you know better, you do better.

If management doesnt stop clipping coupons, the only thing fans will want to wear is a paper bag.

Yet, when in your life did you ever imagine that a Black basketball player from Akron, Ohio,would own a piece of the Boston Red Sox, the last MLB team to integrate?

Its a story that can happen only in America.

While America appears to be in the throes of the terribletwos, as someone recently noted, change is a constant factor of life and an endemic part of a healthy democracy. Baseball is the one thing we think never changes but in reality has led it.

Charita Goshay is a columnist for Gannett. She can be reached atcharita.goshay@cantonrep.com.

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Goshay: Baseball often reflects where we are - Bluffton Today

Disney has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and integral to that experience while growing up are the things that I was taught as a kid through Disney and its movies. I learned all about kindness, patience, humility, and most importantly, I was taught empathy. And when I went to Disney World for the first time, I went with that message in my heart.

Thats why Im not bothered by the changes being enacted in Disney World that conservatives are calling wokeness or political correctness. Because theyre just bitter that their immersive experience of the good ol USA, racism and sexism included, is being threatened by Disneys continued efforts to have empathy for the experience of their guests as a whole.

Because, believe it or not, its not all about you, random Conservatives who feel hurt that racist caricatures like Trader Sam are gone from Jungle Cruise at Disney World. To you, it might be a joke and something to laugh about. But to others, someone like Trader Sam is an insulting and stereotypical remnant of the past that has absolutely no place in 2021.

The same thing goes for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World that sold captive and tied up women as brides. Disney World getting rid of that part of the ride isnt the company caving to political pressure. Its them realizing that they were promoting human trafficking and bondage in one of their most popular rides.

If youre hurt that your immersive experience was shattered by the nixing of sex crimes or racist statues, then you need to take a good hard look at yourself and why youre upset about this. This isnt about political correctness, but it is about necessary changes for a better experience for all. This is about a changing world and Disney parks finally catching up to what its movies have been teaching us all along.

And thinking that your immersive experience is being shattered is just proof that in your world, white supremacy is being threatened by inclusion and representation, when in reality, its all about leveling the playing field and making those that have been discriminated against and disenfranchised feel like they are welcomed by Disney World and all its parks.

The matter of fact is that diversity and inclusion only make the Disney World experience better. Because thats the reality of our world and our country. We are not all white and we are not all straight. And being inclusive, or allowing cast members to wear inclusive uniforms and have inclusive haircuts, makes for a more dynamic experience that welcomes all.

So, take your faux anger out of here and just admit that youre not ready for a Disney World that embraces values of inclusivity and empathy. Youre here to have a good ol time on the backs of those who have been laughed at or been disenfranchised because youre afraid of change. Sorry, not sorry but change is already here and you already have been left behind.

(image: Walt Disney World Resorts/Getty)

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I Love Disney World and That Conservatives Are Crying "Wokeness" at Change - The Mary Sue

After suffering a head injury at the hands of a slave owner, Araminta Harriet Ross, commonly known as Harriet Tubman, began to suffer from epilepsy and incredibly painful headaches. Consequently, she started having visions, which she believed were direct messages from God, telling her that it was her duty to resist the bonds of slavery and to free not only herself but her people.

After a 80 year life span devoted to freeing enslaved African Americans, Tubmans name was again introduced to the American consciousness. In 2015, the advocacy group Women on 20s began conducting a grassroots campaign in order to promote the replacement of Andrew Jackson on the twenty dollar bill with Tubman. The campaign brought attention to the proposal, and in 2016, the Obama administration announced their inclination to proceed with the action. During the Trump administration, however, Trump stated that to replace the seventh president of the United States would be pure political correctness, and dragged his feet in the process. During Bidens presidency, its important that action is taken to make Tubman the new face of the twenty dollar bill in order to honor her heroism.

The president Tubman would be replacing, Andrew Jackson, has been the subject of contentious scrutiny not only for his strong support of slavery, but his heavy impact on the westward expansion into Native American territory. Jackson relied heavily on enslaved people in order to achieve wealth and help him run the country. He was brutal, and often physically abused his slaves in the White House. By the time of his death, Jackson owned about 150 slaves. Jackson also was an outspoken advocate of the removal of indigenous peoples. In 1830, he signed the Indian Removal Act, forcing Native Americans to flee from the land on which they had lived for generations. It was one of the leaders of the Choctaw who stated to the press that his people were walking a trail of tears and death. Jackson illegally demanded a forceful removal at the expense of thousands of lives.

Tubman, in contrast, spent her life helping those who suffered at the hands of racism and injustice. In 1849, she escaped the bonds of slavery through the Underground Railroad, a network of secret paths and safehouses dispersed throughout the US and used by enslaved African Americans to escape slavery. Those who were lucky enough to attain freedom would begin new lives. Many enlisted in the Union Army to partake in the Civil War. Tubman, however, knew that she could never be truly free unless her loved ones were too. She first returned to save her brothers and nieces family. When they were free, she returned for her husband, whom she had married five years prior, only to find that he remarried and refused to go. Instead of saving her husband, she saved more enslaved people.

Over the span of ten years, Tubman freed around 70 enslaved people, according to historical estimates. Her actions earned her the nickname Moses, after the Biblical character who freed his people. She made her final trip in 1860 to save her sister, but after learning she had died, she instead saved one more family before making her final departure. During the Civil War, she aided several generals, helping to plan battle strategies. She spent the rest of her life fighting for womens rights until she died in 1913 from pneumonia.

The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal. Jacksons beliefs towards slavery and the westward expansion did not align with these foundational American values. While he was a president, many of his morals were corrupted by prioritizing his own greed over the people. Tubman, in comparison, demonstrated her passion for American values and strong sense of patriotism by helping those in need throughout her entire life. Our currency should reflect our countrys rich and diverse history. Tubmans selfless, unprompted acts of intrepidity must be honored.

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Column: Harriet Tubman on the Twenty Dollar Bill Represents a Better America - berkeleyhighjacket.com

The Isle of Wight Green Party has been called 'leftists' and been accused of 'spouting off online' - in the same week that their election signs have been vandalised and destroyed.

The party also says an anonymous note posted through the door of a county council candidate is more concerning though.

It said:

As you know we voted overwhelmingly in the last election for a conservative government and to get Brexit Done and we don't want to be rude but your politics are not really welcome here [SIC].

According to the Isle of Wight Green Party, the sign on Hyde Road,Shanklin has been destroyed and a replacement was also snapped off a few hours later.

Another sign, on the Godshill Road, Whitwell has been removed.

The letter from the concerned resident said:

We understand that you are running in the local elections and would ask that you kindly refrain from putting up political posters in our road. As you know we voted overwhelmingly in the last election for a conservative government and to get Brexit Done and we don't want to be rude but your politics are not really welcome here. Please remove the posters XXX because we don't think they reflect the feeling of this street or the whole area.

Also we think it is not appropriate for you to publically question everything online with your leftists views. I have seen you spouting off with your single justice warrior views and political correctness gone made views. Thank you in advance. A concerned resident.

The police have been informed about the incidents.

Isle of Wight Green Party Chair, Vix Lowthion, said:

it is alarming and upsetting that Islanders who are partaking in the democratic process and to do the very best for the community in which they live are being subject to such hate mail and attacks. Our Green Party candidates are a very close knit group, and we have rallied around to support this valued member of the Green Team. We thank the Police for their swift response.

We will not be intimidated by destructive actions such as this, because we know that the vast majority of Islanders support our democratic right to stand in an election, stick up posters and put forward a positive future for the people of the Isle of Wight. The response that our Green Party candidates are getting on the streets, lanes and on the doorsteps is overwhelmingly positive. The writer of this note and the people who have pulled down our signs have only confirmed our resolve to ensure that more Green Councillors are elected next week.[SIC]

More here:

Isle Of Wight Green Party Called "Leftists" As Election Signs Are Vandalised - Isle of Wight Radio

Rarely a week passes without a rightwing commentator warning about the rise of cancel culture or decrying the woke agenda. Wokeness has been described as a threat to democracy, freedom of speech and in the words of the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden part of a wider effort to do Britain down. Boris Johnsons government, cheered on by sections of the British press, is waging a war on woke to deal with this alleged crisis, targeting leftwing activists, anti-racists, academics and trans rights advocates.

Some have suggested ministers are stoking this culture war to distract voters from their failures in government. But this explanation underestimates the ideological reasons behind the governments strategy, which is better understood as an attempt to shift the Overton window to the right while framing the rights of minorities as a fringe concern. The Conservatives seek a post-Brexit Britain bolstered by (among other things) an increasingly nativist and divisive populism, and a national pride in the achievements of the British empire, untrammelled by leftwing critics.

There is a long history in Britain of the right whipping up a moral panic about leftwing activists working within state institutions to promote minority issues that most ordinary people supposedly oppose. In the 1980s, the British media portrayed a coalition of Marxists, anti-racists, feminists and gay rights activists as the loony left, a trope that was embraced by editors, journalists and politicians alike, particularly during the 1987 general election.

Under Margaret Thatcher, the Conservatives endorsed a neoliberal free-market economy, but their liberalism did not extend beyond this. The governments regressive approach to issues of race, gender and sexuality was famously characterised as one of Victorian values. For the British right in the 1980s, a war on the loony left was part of a broader ideological battle to reverse the social changes of the 1960s, when progress had been made on issues such as legalising homosexuality and abortion, and the increased awareness the 1968 generation showed towards the rights of women, gay people and Black and Asian people.

After Thatchers electoral victory in 1979, the influence that the British left had previously enjoyed withered. Meanwhile, the face of leftwing politics was changing. In the 1970s and 80s, an array of social movements emerged, including the Anti-Nazi League in response to the National Front, the womens liberation movement and the growing gay rights movement. These pluralist movements indicated that the left needed to take issues such as race, gender and sexuality seriously.

While many leftwing MPs resigned themselves to fighting defensive battles at the national level, local government became a fertile site of resistance to Thatcherism. Councils across London, alongside the Greater London council (GLC) under Ken Livingstone, Sheffield city council and Liverpool city council became places to enact socialist politics in a country governed by majority Tory rule. The GLC funded anti-racist, feminist and pro-LGBT initiatives, while many local councils made strident efforts to denounce apartheid in South Africa and announced nuclear-free zones. In London, Ken Livingstone infamously organised talks with Sinn Fin representatives through the GLC.

Unsurprisingly, this provoked anger among sections of the British press. As James Curran, Ivor Gaber and Julian Petley show in their book, Culture Wars: The Media and the British Left, the tabloids started using the term loony left in the mid-1980s to portray the rise of a crackpot left more concerned with minorities than with class. Apocryphal stories of what would come to be known in the 1990s as political correctness gone mad, such as the alleged banning of the word manhole or the censoring of the nursery rhyme Baa Baa Black Sheep by Hackney council, made tabloid headlines supposedly exposing the lefts fixation with fringe and minority issues.

Stories of the loony left helped to justify the ultimate abolition of the GLC. The Conservatives made this a promise in their 1983 election manifesto, and alongside the defeat of the miners strike in 1985, the dissolution of the GLC in 1986 can be viewed as a Thatcherite victory over socialist politics. But stories of local authorities engaging with these issues still abounded, leading to further action by the Thatcher government. One of the most significant moves came in 1988, when the Conservatives introduced section 28 of the Local Government Act, which sought to prohibit the promotion of homosexuality by local authorities. It wasnt until 2003 that the Blair government repealed it.

Of course, criticisms of the loony left and the implicit accusation that too much attention was being devoted to the rights of minorities werent exclusively the preserve of Conservatives. Many people in the Labour party also attacked sections of the left that supported these issues. In 1983, the gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell ran as the Labour candidate in the Bermondsey byelection. He was criticised by Labour party insiders, and said that the party leadership pressured him to keep quiet about his private life. Under Neil Kinnock, Labour still viewed gay rights as a minority issue that might not appeal to voters, while Kinnock and Roy Hattersley, Labours former deputy leader, opposed the partys Black Sections, the movement established in 1983 to demand greater representation for African Caribbean and Asian people.

There are clear parallels between criticisms of the loony left in the 1980s and the labelling of movements such as Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion as woke in the present day. In both eras, Conservative politicians and sections of the British press have demonised leftwing movements and portrayed them as worrisome forces attempting to infiltrate national institutions. While the right sought to rid local authorities of the loony left in the 1980s, theyre now raising the alarm over the alleged creep of wokeness in cultural institutions such as the BBC and the National Trust.

As the political theorist Lea Ypi wrote last year, this culture war is stoking fears that Britain is threatened by leftwing identity politics that are harmful to a particular British way of life. Just as stories about the loony left gave credence to Thatchers war on local government in the second half of the 1980s, similar fear of wokeness and charges of leftwing bias or virtue signalling have legitimised the pressure that ministers have placed upon institutions such as the BBC. While some of their targets may have changed, the scare tactics of the right have not.

Read more from the original source:

The Conservatives have been waging their war on woke for decades - The Guardian