President Obama Renames Alaska’s Mt. McKinley To Denali, Social Media Erupts

Say goodbye to “Mt. McKinley.” The highest U.S. peak is getting an official name change: http://t.co/I9FfurdnmR pic.twitter.com/6UD9N4knc1
— CNN (@CNN) August 31, 2015

Continuing to flex his executive muscle during his final term as commander-in-chief, President Barack Obama announced Sunday that Alaska’s Mount McKinley was being renamed Denali.

The president used his executive power to restore the mountain to its “Alaska Native name, which has deep cultural significance to the tallest mountain in North America,” reports The New York Times.

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.

The mountain’s former name has long been regarded in what The Times notes “as an example of cultural imperialism in which a Native American name with historical roots.”

The 20,237-foot mountain and the tallest in North America was renamed in honor of President William McKinley, who was assassinated six months into his term in 1901.

As expected, social media users responded to the change with praise and condemnation. Here are some tweets:

Obama hasn’t “renamed” anything. He’s just pointed out that white people have been referring to Denali by the wrong name.
— chiller (@chiller) August 31, 2015

@MichaelSkolnik Conservatives and racists, which are one and the same, are about to lose their collective shit! lol
— Corey B. King (@coreybking) August 31, 2015

GOP blasts Obama’s Mt. Denali name change http://t.co/uZ8DGIzV0z | AP photo pic.twitter.com/TmIwXYEHxy
— POLITICO (@politico) August 31, 2015

@TIME ‘Hi I’m POTUS therefore I can do whatever I want so I’m changing the name of this mountain!’ Wait, what?!! 😯

I heard this on the radio this morning and I thought .. wth ?

My mind immediately started asking me questions (ME ... of all people .... so early in the morning ..... like ... I have answers?)

Who named the mountain in the first place and was the naming a rape job the Alaskans never liked/wanted ?

Just another piece of American fabric/identity chipped away at the granite beacon the world has been able to see through darkness all these years

We're still standing, but I want the kenyan bastard arrested for treason and I don't want to wait until his term is ended

Screw the accusations and the attempt to make him a martyr .... even democrats know he's a traitor !

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