Tag: virtue signaling

Looks Like Cops Put a Fake MLK Quote on a Police Cruiser for Black History Month

The police department in Columbus, Ohio is celebrating Black History Month with a themed cop car, which uses a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “Be the peace you wish to see in the world.” 

Just one of the many problems with this move is that it appears MLK never said that.

The Columbus Division of Police unveiled the car it dubbed “History 1” Wednesday, saying in a social media post that the car will “celebrate the achievements of African Americans & recognize their roles in our history.” The video announcing the car plays excerpts from King’s legendary “I Have a Dream” speech.

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University Removes Slave-Owning Benefactor’s Name, His Family Demands Their $51 Million Back

If your name isn’t good enough for a college, is your money? Such a question has been raised over a now-deleted donator in Virginia.

The situation dates back to 1846, when a man named Thomas C. Williams attended Richmond College. In the 1880s, he served as a trustee.

More from the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

After his death, his family made a gift to [the college] that helped establish the law school. When Richmond College became the University of Richmond in 1920, it began referring to the law school as the T.C. Williams School of Law.

That was then, this is now. In September of 2022, the University of Richmond board voted unanimously to change the name to the University of Richmond School of Law.

At the time, President Kevin Hallock and the board issued a letter:

We recognize that some may be disappointed or disagree with this decision. We also recognize the role the Williams family has played here and respect the full and complete history of the institution.

He may have played an important part, but according to tax records, T.C.’s successful tobacco business owned 25 to 40 slaves.

Six months before T.C.’s booting, half a dozen campus buildings were re-labeled. Gone were references to those who’d possessed slaves — including Robert Ryland, the school’s first president in 1840.

On March 26th, a new policy was instated:

No building, program, professorship, or other entity at the University should be named for a person who directly engaged in the trafficking and/or enslavement of others or openly advocated for the enslavement of people.

Out with the old, in with the new. But T.C.’s family wants their man’s old money back: If he’s unworthy of recognition for his efforts, they figure, his cash should be no good as well.

T.C.’s great-great-grandson explained in a letter to the president.

If suddenly his name is not good enough for the University, then isn’t the proper ethical and, indeed, virtuous action to return the benefactor’s money with interest? … [I]s it not a form of fraud to induce money from a benefactor, and then discredit the benefactor after he is long dead? Surely the Williams family would not have given a penny to the University knowing that the University would later dishonor the family.

It was a might more than a penny; Rob has done the math:

At a six-percent compounded interest over 132 years, [T.C.’s] gift to the law school alone is now valued at over $51 million, and this does not include many other substantial gifts from my family to the University.

Bottom line:

The ethical and virtuous decision is clear. Return the money.

Rob told The College Fix his family has sent President Kevin “20 (unreturned) emails asking for the evidence” regarding their ancestor’s slavery connection.

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Virginia’s GOP Governor Glenn Youngkin slams ‘maniacal’ decision by SEVEN schools in woke district to hide merit awards from top students to boost ‘equity’ – as AG warns move could have cost youngsters college scholarships

Republican Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has slammed the decision by seven Fairfax County schools to withhold from their students whether they received a prestigious national merit recognition as ‘maniacal’.

Only awarded to 50,000 of 1.5million high schoolers who score well on the PSATS, the prestigious award can help students compete for scholarships, honors accolades, and college admissions. 

The schools – which include America’s best-performing public school, Thomas Jefferson High – have explained their decision to keep the results secret as a form of ‘equity.’ They insist it’s part of a new school strategy meant to provide ‘equal outcomes for every student, without exceptions.’ – but parents are furious. 

As a result of the deception, pupils who had been named ‘commended students’ by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation were purposely left in the dark so as to not ‘hurt the feelings of’ other students. 

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When will companies end their embarrassing Pride hypocrisy?

Here come the flag-shaggers. June is Pride Month, the annual exercise in rainbow-washing, and if you listen very carefully you may even hear gay rights mentioned. You might be familiar with Pride Month from past years. On 31 May, the bank is offering you a fixed rate with a four per cent APRC; on 1 June, it wants you to know that, on the off chance you’re non-binary, your mortgage-lender thinks that’s valid.

The most obvious way for a corporation to signal its commitment to inclusivity is to emblazon its corporate branding with the Pride flag, but this is increasingly fraught with difficulty. Because, you see, the Pride flag is no longer inclusive. It’s a gay symbol, after all, and gay men and lesbians rank just below white people and non-graduates in The Current Ideology’s hierarchy of villainy.

Some brands get around this by using the Progress Pride flag instead and, speaking of banks, HSBC has gone down this route. Alas, progress is a fast-moving thing and while the Progress flag boasts additional stripes in blue, pink and white (trans pride) and brown and black (‘people of colour’), it isn’t as progressive as the Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride flag, which adds a purple ring on a yellow background. Of course, this in itself is a symbol of oppression because it fails to incorporate the flags for polysexuals (those attracted to many genders) and polygenders (those who are many genders). If HSBC can’t get simple stuff like this right, how am I supposed to trust them with my reward current account?

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Canceling All Things Russian ‘A Warning Sign’

A current trend to cancel all things Russian, even Tchaikovsky concerts, is a warning sign because it’s the same kind of thinking used during the totalitarian Soviet Union and can lead to more harm, according to Gary Saul Morson, a Northwestern University professor who has studied Russian literature and thought for decades.

“This should be a warning sign when you start thinking that because President [Vladimir] Putin does horrible things in Ukraine, we have to stop listening to Tchaikovsky,” Morson told NTD’s “The Nation Speaks” program on Mar. 26. “What’s going on here? How far can such thinking go?”

“To me, it’s reminiscent of exactly how the Soviets thought. They certainly divided the world into all good and all bad. And so, literally anything you did that hurt your enemy was good. And that was the basis of their morality,” said Morson. “It is what led to the horrors of Soviet behavior to killing millions of people.”

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