Problematic Insect

 

I understand that in today’s culture people on the Left are trying hard to out woke each other. I also know that colleges are the worst offenders. Despite all of that, when I saw this story I assumed it was some sort of parody.

Emory & Henry College is trying to decide if they should change their team mascot might have a negative impact on inclusion and diversity. Normally when you hear that the teams involved have some sort of Native American based name. But animal names?

It turns out that the racist name is the wasps. Now, I have been stung enough to hate the little creatures, but not because of the colors of their skin. Turn out, the flying demons are not the problem, but it is spelled the same as the acronym WASP. For those of you under 40, WASP stands for White Anglo-Saxon Protestants and was a popular phrase decades ago.

It is not clear then if they want to change the name for the sake of WASPs, the way they want to change the Indians name so not to offend Indians, or if they want non-WASPs to feel included. Most of the people I grew up with were either Irish, Italian, or Jewish. I was a WASP and that made me a minority. I was neither proud nor ashamed. So, I really could not believe this story when I saw it.

Then I went to the college’s web site and read it for myself:

Conversations must examine how Emory & Henry’s past has contributed to current and ongoing systemic oppression. For example, discussion should be renewed regarding College’s mascot, the wasp, and the impact of this mascot on inclusion and diversity on our campus.

Here is the real problem. Racism can be an awful thing, but when we redefine it to be the wrong bug on a football helmet then you make it really hard for anyone to be sympathetic.

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  1. Misthiocracy got drunk and Member
    Misthiocracy got drunk and
    @Misthiocracy

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Misthiocracy got drunk and (View Comment):

    Any mascot that conveys a message of competitive superiority in any way must become taboo, which means all mascots must become taboo since conveying a message of competitive superiority is inherently the whole point of mascots.

    Heck, if you made something as ubiquitous and generic as a glass of water your mascot it would still be an insult to people who live in arid climates.

    I’m reminded that in the early (high school) seasons of Sabrina The Teenage Witch (original fun version, not the new “dark” crap) the school’s teams were the Fighting Scallions.

    Go Land Crabs!

    (FYI: The motto translates roughly as “Find A Way Or Create One”.)

    • #61
  2. Misthiocracy got drunk and Member
    Misthiocracy got drunk and
    @Misthiocracy

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Misthiocracy got drunk and (View Comment):

    Vance Richards (View Comment):

    Misthiocracy got drunk and (View Comment):
    Any mascot that conveys a message of competitive superiority in any way must become taboo, which means all mascots must become taboo since conveying a message of competitive superiority is inherently the whole point of mascots.

    How is this for a team name?

    “Let’s negotiate an outcome to this game that is mutually beneficial!”

    It discriminates against those who do not have a diploma.

    Wait. Doesn’t EVERYONE get a diploma these days?

    We’re all diplomats.

    • #62
  3. Misthiocracy got drunk and Member
    Misthiocracy got drunk and
    @Misthiocracy

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Misthiocracy got drunk and (View Comment):

    In order to prevent any offense, intentional or accidental, all teams shall be assigned a randomly-generated 10-digit alphanumeric, with any intelligible words generated by accident filtered out.

    Wait, that’s no good. It discriminates against cultures that do not use the latin alphabet.

    Ok, just randomly-generated 10-digit numerics then. It doesn’t even discriminate against cultures that don’t use arabic numerals or base-10 numbering, since all numbers can be translated into different number systems.

    Hmm, except for those that don’t recognize the concept of zero.

    No problem. We’ll simply exclude the digit zero from any numeric assignment.

    I’m a big fan of Sportsball Team Number 9136475128.

    What about teams too poor to afford a ball?

    They can smash the window of a sporting goods store and liberate a ball.

    • #63
  4. Misthiocracy got drunk and Member
    Misthiocracy got drunk and
    @Misthiocracy

    Henry Racette (View Comment):

    Misthiocracy got drunk and (View Comment):

    Tree Rat (View Comment):

    Misthiocracy got drunk and (View Comment):
    Any mascot that conveys a message of competitive superiority in any way must become taboo, which means all mascots must become taboo since conveying a message of competitive superiority is inherently the whole point of mascots.

    Au contraire! I suggest White Immature Meddlesome Protesters. The WIMPs!

    Perennial Good Sportsmanship Award winners, which is of course the highest honour in Sportsball since the concept of “championships” is forbidden.

    “Perennial Good Sportsmanship Award”

    Sportsmanship? Sportsmanship?

    People, this is the kind of institutionalized hetero-normative patriarchical repression against which we are gathered here to fight. I am fully on board with this Sportsball, this wonderfully woke form of athleticism, but as long as affirmation comes in the form of such predictable celebrations of cis-gendered masculinity, we really aren’t making any progress.

     

    Ever since it became settled science that any human can be a man, this complaint has become irrelevant.

    • #64
  5. Henry Racette Member
    Henry Racette
    @HenryRacette

    Misthiocracy got drunk and (View Comment):

    Henry Racette (View Comment):

    Misthiocracy got drunk and (View Comment):

    Tree Rat (View Comment):

    Misthiocracy got drunk and (View Comment):
    Any mascot that conveys a message of competitive superiority in any way must become taboo, which means all mascots must become taboo since conveying a message of competitive superiority is inherently the whole point of mascots.

    Au contraire! I suggest White Immature Meddlesome Protesters. The WIMPs!

    Perennial Good Sportsmanship Award winners, which is of course the highest honour in Sportsball since the concept of “championships” is forbidden.

    “Perennial Good Sportsmanship Award”

    Sportsmanship? Sportsmanship?

    People, this is the kind of institutionalized hetero-normative patriarchical repression against which we are gathered here to fight. I am fully on board with this Sportsball, this wonderfully woke form of athleticism, but as long as affirmation comes in the form of such predictable celebrations of cis-gendered masculinity, we really aren’t making any progress.

     

    Ever since it became settled science that any human can be a man, this complaint has become irrelevant.

    Damn you and your incontrovertible logic!

    • #65
  6. Randy Weivoda Moderator
    Randy Weivoda
    @RandyWeivoda

    I don’t have a suggestion for what the logo should look like, but I think the school’s new nickname should be the Grovelers.

    • #66
  7. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    Every time I see ‘Problematic Insect’ I think, this is what Woke Emperor Ming would call you before he executed you for posting something inappropriate on Twitter. 

    • #67
  8. Hugh Member
    Hugh
    @Hugh

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    When I was growing up, JAP’s was another acronym that’s fallen out of favor. Jewish American Princess.

    One of my favorite cats was Miss FAP. She was a Feline-American Princess. Spoiled as can be, also beautiful, and she apparently knew it.

    Mine was called Frosty and boy-o-boy she was.

    • #68
  9. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Hugh (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    When I was growing up, JAP’s was another acronym that’s fallen out of favor. Jewish American Princess.

    One of my favorite cats was Miss FAP. She was a Feline-American Princess. Spoiled as can be, also beautiful, and she apparently knew it.

    Mine was called Frosty and boy-o-boy she was.

    Mine was very affectionate with me, and with at least most other people.  But she didn’t like other cats at all.  Not even just seeing them outside, it seems.  Because they were outside, and she was mostly inside, but still after a while she left to find a place I figured with no other cats around at all.

    • #69
  10. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    You need to be careful letting white cats outside.  They have little melanin, and their ears get sunburned a lot.  We had a white cat whose ears had to be removed because they were pre-cancerous.  She looked a good bit like a seal after the operation.

    • #70
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