Petition: Rename America

[John Dule]

The name "America" comes from the name of Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who, among other things, participated in and funded slave raids and owned at least five slaves himself. Obviously, in order to wash away the problematic legacy of cishet white males like Vespucci, this continent must be renamed. The word "America" must be removed from all of our monuments, signs, and paper dollars. The seals of the US states must be changed. Every song mentioning "America" must be rewritten. All official documents in the US government must be reprinted and the originals must be burned. This could cost up to two trillion dollars, but even though we're in the middle of a pandemic and that money could be better spent pretty much anywhere else, I think this is a small price to pay for racial healing. What say you?

[John Dule]

No

WHY NOT?!?!

[John Dule]

The fact that you mock people who want good change shows the type of person you truly are, anyways I'm not participating in your troll game and as a result I won't vote in the poll.

What are you, a racist or something? Vote in the poll, bigot.

[John Dule]

The fact that you mock people who want good change shows the type of person you truly are, anyways I'm not participating in your troll game and as a result I won't vote in the poll.

What are you, a racist or something? Vote in the poll, bigot.

I don't spend my time engaging with trolls who post in bad-faith.

Help, police! He's expressing an opinion I don't like!

[John Dule]

what original, brilliant and insightful commentary on modern politics

We aim to please here at Honest Johnny Dule's Bespoke Opinion Emporium.

[John Dule]

Anyway, today I'll be attending a city council meeting on renaming my high school, which was named for a slave owner. I will be using the argument outlined in this thread. I thought I'd test it out on you guys to see if there are any decent retorts to it, and apparently there aren't. Thanks for your help.

[John Dule]

Anyway, today I'll be attending a city council meeting on renaming my high school, which was named for a slave owner. I will be using the argument outlined in this thread. I thought I'd test it out on you guys to see if there are any decent retorts to it, and apparently there aren't. Thanks for your help.

"America" is simply a geographic descriptor. If anything the name should be changed because the country doesn't encompass the entirety of both continents.

Exactly. The name originally referred to an individual but has now taken on another meaning for all of us. Likewise, my high school's name no longer refers just to a slave trader; it has taken on a different meaning for those of us who went there.

[John Dule]

Anyway, today I'll be attending a city council meeting on renaming my high school, which was named for a slave owner. I will be using the argument outlined in this thread. I thought I'd test it out on you guys to see if there are any decent retorts to it, and apparently there aren't. Thanks for your help.

"America" is simply a geographic descriptor. If anything the name should be changed because the country doesn't encompass the entirety of both continents.

Exactly. The name originally referred to an individual but has now taken on another meaning for all of us. Likewise, my high school's name no longer refers just to a slave trader; it has taken on a different meaning for those of us who went there.

If the US was called "Amerigo Vespucci Memorial Republic" or something like that, it might be a different story.

But really, you're being a jerk at best and a racist at worst. Literally nothing bad will happen from changing your high school's name (provided they come up with a good alternative). Meanwhile black students will be able to attend that school without having that connection hanging over them.

Nobody cares about this superficial garbage aside from rich white liberals. I don't want to throw them a bone on this because then they'll feel like they've accomplished something without actually doing anything to combat racism. They don't deserve to have their virtue-signaling rewarded.