Thursday, August 18, 2005

The Old Dominion Hit with PC Nuttiness

Virginia, my home no matter where I might be living, is being overrun with PC crazies. This morning, on the front page of the Wash. Times I read this:

To hear some newcomers to Hanover County, Virginia, tell it, "Dixie" is a five-letter four-letter word. They want to change the county's annual Civil War commemoration from "Dixie Days" to something else, to avoid, among other things, offending Yankees who have moved into the county.

Dixie cups are probably OK, concedes one county official, but not "Dixie" ? that reminds everyone of, well, the South. Jamelle Wilson, a member of an advisory panel reviewing the annual event, told a public gathering earlier this month that "Dixie Days" is "problematic" and that calling a Civil War commemoration by that name "tends to represent the past." If "Dixie" remains, the county schools shouldn't promote or endorse it, she said.

"tends to represent the past."?!? OMG! We can't do anything that teaches actual *gasp* History!
Grayson Jennings, commander of the Cold Harbor Guards Camp division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans of Virginia, would rather hold the commemoration on private property or even outside Hanover County, than change the name from Dixie Days.
"It's our event. We can call it what we want," Mr. Jennings says. "This is our heritage. We are not changing the name."
...
Some residents, county officials say, find "Dixie Days" offensive and a symbol of slavery and racism. "The Hanover County community is changing rapidly with many newcomers that may be offended by the name," Ms. Wilson said.
If you're offended by the South, why the hell don't you move back North??? If you won't move, why don't you study Virginia's history and get a better understanding of what makes it such a great state? Don't come down here and try to change what's worked pretty darned well for almost 400 years!!
The advisory panel says the event shouldn't be allowed in a county park if the name remains, because some people say it can be "offensive, misinterpreted and problematic" and opens an "opportunity for media to create controversy."

I take that to mean the media will be asked to create a controversy.
Yankee Go Home!