Dec 31, 2020
It has been the worst American year since at least 1968, or 1862, or, arguably, ever. It has, however, provided episodes that will amaze and perhaps amuse a calmer future America.
There has been feverish statue-toppling: Up with “social justice,” so down with Ulysses S. Grant, pulverizer of the slavocracy. School names from the past are scrubbed away in order to signal the superior virtue of the scrubbers: San Francisco’s School Names Advisory Committee – really – objects to Abraham Lincoln High School because he sinned against various 2020 sensibilities. And 2020 concludes with medicine and political mania entangled on a campus.
Cornell University says vaccinations against seasonal flu are mandatory, but more for some than for others. Because of “systemic racism” and “health inequities,” members of “some marginalized communities” are exempt. “Historically,” Cornell says, “the bodies of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC)
Should Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s name be removed from a San Francisco elementary school?
A volunteer panel appointed by the Board of Education says yes, and is recommending a renaming to city officials.
The School Names Advisory Committee formed two years ago amid a nationwide reckoning on Confederate statues and monuments to America’s racist past. “Many communities are blazing a path toward a more relevant and culturally responsive approach to addressing historical wrongs,” stated the school board resolution forming the committee, adopted May 22, 2018.
The volunteer “blue-ribbon panel” was tasked with reviewing all 114 public school names for their appropriateness, with close attention to those named for people “who engaged in the subjugation and enslavement of human beings,” or who “oppressed women,” or whose “actions led to genocide,” or who “otherwise significantly diminished the opportunities of those amongst us to the right to life, liberty, and the p
USA TODAY
Editor’s note: On Jan. 26, San Francisco school board officials voted to change the name of Abraham Lincoln High School. Schools will have until April to offer new names, which will then be voted on by board members.
The claim: San Francisco will rename Abraham Lincoln High School because he did not show black lives mattered to him
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. He led the Union through the Civil War, and freed most of the nation s slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation.
In recent days, users have taken to social media to criticize efforts to remove his name from a high school in San Francisco.
There have been some recent news stories that have insinuated that the decision to change the names has already been decided. This is absolutely 100% not true, in fact, the Board seems to have taken a step backwards in that regard. (refer to our earlier post)
The SFUSD Board of Education has pushed back its proposed January date for “alternative names” due from the school sites until April 19th. President of the Board, Mark Sanchez, would like the full Board to review and discuss the list of schools in January, but not consider potential new names at that time. They will instead, validate or modify the list of schools that should be renamed.