Denali — Semantic Cultural Justice — Predictably Opposed by Some Prominent Members of the Republican Party's Band of Bigots

© 2015 Peter Free

 

01 September 2015

 

 

On balance, Denali’s rightful name matters

 

From the New York Times:

 

 

President Obama announced on Sunday that Mount McKinley was being renamed Denali, using his executive power to restore an Alaska Native name with deep cultural significance to the tallest mountain in North America.

 

The move came on the eve of Mr. Obama’s trip to Alaska, where he will spend three days promoting aggressive action to combat climate change, and is part of a series of steps he will make there meant to address the concerns of Alaska Native tribes.

 

It is the latest bid by the president to fulfill his 2008 campaign promise to improve relations between the federal government and the nation’s Native American tribes, an important political constituency that has a long history of grievances against the government.

 

Denali’s name has long been seen as one such slight, regarded as an example of cultural imperialism in which a Native American name with historical roots was replaced by an American one having little to do with the place.

 

The peak, at more than 20,000 feet, plays a central role in the creation story of the Koyukon Athabascans, a group that has lived in Alaska for thousands of years.

 

© 2015 Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Mount McKinley Will Again Be Called Denali, New York Times (30 August 2015)

 

 

In response to President Obama’s action . . .

 

This grace-lacking trash:

 

 

[N]ot everyone was happy about the change back [to Denali].

 

Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), who represents the state where McKinley was born, said he was disappointed with the decision and blasted Obama for not deferring to Congress.

 

“This decision by the Administration is yet another example of the President going around Congress. I'm disappointed with the Administration's decision to change the name of Mt. McKinley in Alaska.”

 

“This political stunt is insulting to all Ohioans,” said Bob Gibbs, Congressman from Ohio.

 

Gibbs also called the move unconstitutional and an effort to “ignore an act of Congress… to promote [Obama’s] job killing war on energy.”

 

The sentiment was echoed by House Speaker John Boehner, also of Ohio, who said he was “deeply disappointed in this decision.”

 

Keith Urbahn, former Chief of Staff to Donald Rumsfeld, was also not a fan:

 

“Being a Union war hero of Antietam and Shenandoah, US President not good enough, apparently.”

 

The positioning of Obama’s decision as a partisan political move is particularly odd. The renaming of the mountain Denali was praised effusively by Alaska’s Republican Senator, Lisa Murkowski.

 

“For centuries, Alaskans have known this majestic mountain as the ‘Great One.’ Today we are honored to be able to officially recognize the mountain as Denali. I’d like to thank the President for working with us to achieve this significant change to show honor, respect, and gratitude to the Athabascan people of Alaska.”

 

Obama’s decision was also supported by Alaska’s Republican Governor, Bill Walker.

 

[Who said on Facebook:

 

For decades, Alaskans have been urging the federal government to recognize Denali by its proper name.

 

Alaska’s place names should reflect and respect the rich cultural history of our state, and officially recognizing the name Denali does just that.]

 

© 2015 Judd Legum, To Honor Native Americans, Obama Renamed The Nation’s Highest Mountain —These People Are Upset, ClimateProgress (31 August 2015) (extracts, underline added)

 

 

The moral? — These influential Republican guys are so “whitely” narrow — that they perennially offend without recognizing it

 

Even unexceptional doses of public graciousness have to fight, at seemingly every turn, against their interminable boorishness.