Plan B Forum

Is it racist for white people to be proud of their heritage?


A school district in western Wisconsin is changing the new name of their revamped gym after it led to an online uproar – and accusations of racism.
The gym at Meyer Middle School, which is in River Falls, was recently renamed the “Roger T. White – Pride Fitness Room as Presented by RCU,” in honor of two donors who had contributed money to replace 20-year-old exercise equipment – the family of Mr. White (a deceased community member who’d graduated from the school district) and the Royal Credit Union.
As you can probably imagine, folks on the Internet did not take kindly to the “White – Pride” portion of the title. And according to EAG News, “Facebook hecklers” ultimately convinced the River Falls School District to change it to – well, something a little better.
According to a Facebook update the district posted on Thursday, they’re “revising the name immediately” to the “Roger T. White Wildcat Fitness Room,” or, alternately, the “Roger T. White – Fitness Room as Presented by RCU.”


The district also emphatically dispelled any notions that the previous name – which was decided upon by the school board – was motivated by white supremacy, saying, “Any suggestion of racism, discrimination, or cultural insensitivity in the fitness room’s title was wholly inadvertant. (sic)”
They acknowledged why the name was so poorly received, however, writing: “We can see and understand how the new name … could be viewed by some people as implying ‘White Pride.'”
Before the Internet backlash and before the name was withdrawn, Chuck Eaton, a local principal and a member of the committee who helped raise funds for the new and improved gym, told the River Falls Journal he was “thrilled” with the name, and according to the paper, predicted it would “likely be shortened to the White Pride Fitness Room,” which he says is “attached to a good role model for the kids who use the room.”
As EAG News points out, the situation sparked a debate among Facebook commenters, with some saying the district had gone too far, and others complaining that removing the name was a politically correct overreaction.
Some social media comments below show the surprise and skepticism with which users reacted to the story:
"Backlash?" Hype things much? Just a handful of people amused by the accidental turn of phrase that was created https://t.co/SQm7BdsX2C

liberty, liberty. I am proud of my English heritage - but not all of it. That pride has nothing to do with "white". Quite often the shameful part of it has indeed had something to do with "white". There is neither need nor reason to celebrate "whiteness" because the skin is not what makes anyone "better" than anyone else. More fortunate perhaps because more privileged - but not "better".

Those who do celebrate "whiteness" are always indulging in racist thinking.

There is quite a difference between "White Pride" and "Black Pride", "Gay Pride" and others. The pride expressed by the other groups is showing that in spite of the way our society has historically treated them, they are still proud of what they are.

White pride seems to be more of a racist reaction to 'Black Pride'.

p.s. A thread started by liberty with the subject of racism. How unusual is that?

MajGenl.Meade wrote:liberty, liberty. I am proud of my English heritage - but not all of it. That pride has nothing to do with "white". Quite often the shameful part of it has indeed had something to do with "white". There is neither need nor reason to celebrate "whiteness" because the skin is not what makes anyone "better" than anyone else. More fortunate perhaps because more privileged - but not "better".

Those who do celebrate "whiteness" are always indulging in racist thinking.

Skin color is irrelevant some of my family are lighter in skin color than others, but none are white. White is actually a poor term. When someone says white they mean people of European ancestry and at one point in time that meant northern Europe. And white is not a race it is a description. Europeans are not a distinctive group they are part of a much a larger group of Caucasian peoples. All Caucasians are closely related they come from a single family that lived in Central Asia tens of thousands of years ago. I am proud of my ancestors distant and recent their survival a lone in brutal environment is note worthy

Joe Guy wrote:There is quite a difference between "White Pride" and "Black Pride", "Gay Pride" and others. The pride expressed by the other groups is showing that in spite of the way our society has historically treated them, they are still proud of what they are.

White pride seems to be more of a racist reaction to 'Black Pride'.

p.s. A thread started by liberty with the subject of racism. How unusual is that?

"wait wait don't tell me"

Southern pride

A thread started by liberty with the subject of racism. How unusual is that?

Not very...

My county seat has many dozens of elementary schools. One is named after a prominent deceased citizen whose last name was Black. Another is similarly named for one named White. They are almost never referred to by their full names, just Black or White. So far as I know, no one has complained loudly enough to force any action by the dustrict.

made in boston.

Is it racist for white people to be proud of their heritage?

I am proud of my accomplishments and those of my ancestors. What we do/did is what is to be proud of as this is something we as individuals/people/family can control.
Skin color matters not.
I no more am proud of being white than I am of having blue eyes and blonde hair. These things I had no control over thus I am neither proud nor "not proud" of them.

liberty wrote:Is it racist for white people to be proud of their heritage?


A school district in western Wisconsin is changing the new name of their revamped gym after it led to an online uproar – and accusations of racism.
The gym at Meyer Middle School, which is in River Falls, was recently renamed the “Roger T. White – Pride Fitness Room as Presented by RCU,” in honor of two donors who had contributed money to replace 20-year-old exercise equipment – the family of Mr. White (a deceased community member who’d graduated from the school district) and the Royal Credit Union.
As you can probably imagine, folks on the Internet did not take kindly to the “White – Pride” portion of the title. And according to EAG News, “Facebook hecklers” ultimately convinced the River Falls School District to change it to – well, something a little better.
According to a Facebook update the district posted on Thursday, they’re “revising the name immediately” to the “Roger T. White Wildcat Fitness Room,” or, alternately, the “Roger T. White – Fitness Room as Presented by RCU.”

Dumb as a bag of bricks.

I would put the complaints against this in the same category as the ignoramuses who were up in arms over that college professor a few years ago who used the word "niggardly"...

While it is silly to object to this (just as it was with the use of niggardly, as Jim points out), from what I heard on NPR (from the an interview with the principal of the school), it was originally slated to be called the "Roger T. White-Pride Fitness Room" but to save money for the letters to be placed on the wing, it was shortened to the White-Pride Fitness Room. I think it's silly that some got upset, but it's also silly that no one recognized that the abbreviated name would elicit some negative response; just putting two characters, "R.", in front of White would have saved a lot of trouble (and would be a better tribute to Mr. White as well, IMHO).

ETA: FWIW, I somehow doubt that if the donor was named Abdul Mohammed, the same people championing the name White Pride would endorse the name "Mohammed Pride Center".

Lord Jim wrote:I would put the complaints against this in the same category as the ignoramuses who were up in arms over that college professor a few years ago who used the word "niggardly"...

Actually I put the lack of thinking behind the naming of this building in the same category as those who thought that the Chatanooga News-Free Press was a good name for a newspaper. Good intentions which were misread, but whose misreading should have been foreseen by anyone with the functioning neurons possessed by a Christmas cactus.

Big RR wrote:While it is silly to object to this (just as it was with the use of niggardly, as Jim points out), from what I heard on NPR (from the an interview with the principal of the school), it was originally slated to be called the "Roger T. White-Pride Fitness Room" but to save money for the letters to be placed on the wing, it was shortened to the White-Pride Fitness Room. I think it's silly that some got upset, but it's also silly that no one recognized that the abbreviated name would elicit some negative response; just putting two character, R., in front of Hite would have saved a lot of trouble (and would be a better tribute to Mr. White as well, IMHO).

ETA: FWIW, I somehow doubt that if the donor was named Abdul Mohammed, the same people championing the name White Pride would endorse the name "Mohammed Pride Center".

Why does it have to be named anything at all other than "the fitness room" or "the equipment room"?  Are there that many people who will not fund anything unless they can get their name stuck on it in perpetuity?

I remember when things were named after people who had done great things — Presidents, patriots, men or women of prominence in fields of art, literature, or other activities of benefit to humanity in general, war heroes, that sort of thing.  You had things like "Milwaukee County Stadium"; "Soldier Field"; "The Los Angeles Coliseum"; and dozens upon dozens of this or that "Memorial Field/Stadium/Arena".  Schools bore names like Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Emerson, Franklin, Adams, Jackson (either Andrew or 'Stonewall'), Lee (again, either Robert E. or 'Light Horse' Harry), Dickinson, Longfellow, Carver, Kennedy, and M.L. King, among others. And it was usually people where it was generally accepted and understood that they had earned the honor, not just the name of some random black guy, Latino, or Asian in order to make everybody feel "included" or someone who threw a bunch of money out there.

Now, however, as soon as something is planned to be built there is a big furor over who's going to pay how much for the "right" to have their name emblazoned on it — which leads to things like "Landshark Stadium" in Miami (for one year!), "O.co Coliseum" in Oakland CA (and no, the 'O.co' does NOT stand for "Orange County"), "Petco Park" ... wherever in the hell that is, and the classic in embarrassing/inappropriate names, "Enron Field" in Houston TX, which continued to bear that name until the Astros actually BOUGHT BACK the naming rights; that's right, they PAID MONEY TO A BANKRUPT COMPANY — and a pretty sizable chunk of it, btw — to be able to remove the name of the disgraced company from the facility and all the other things it was on (like cups, napkins, tickets, employees' uniforms, etc.).

Even on my own city's college campus (UW-La Crosse) we had a large flap about 15 years back when the university decided they were going to unilaterally rename the shared-used football stadium on campus from "Veteran's Memorial Stadium" to "Roger Harring Field" in honor of a long-time UW-L football coach who had just recently retired.  After much fuss and furor a compromise was reached; the structure and the complex in general remains "Veteran's Memorial Stadium", but the actual football field — the playing surface itself — has been designated "Roger Harring Field".  I can just see what will happen as time goes by — they'll want to honor someone else in the football program so we will eventually end up with the "(name) Memorial Goalpost" or the "(name) Commemorative Scoreboard" ... located on "Roger Harring Field" at "Veteran's Memorial Stadium" at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse.  Sheesh!!

-"BB"-

Bicycle Bill, no argument from me; but face it, naming rights are a proven fundraising technique and I doubt they're going to end.

MG McAnick wrote:My county seat has many dozens of elementary schools. One is named after a prominent deceased citizen whose last name was Black. Another is similarly named for one named White. They are almost never referred to by their full names, just Black or White.

So when they compete in sports or academic contests, it truly is a Black and White issue.