Free Republic

The Caucus of African American Leaders of Anne Arundel County (CAAL) has called on officials to consider renaming the recently-collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, arguing that the author of the national anthem “demeaned black people” with the song's lyrics and that he had slaves. Key, a Maryland native who wrote a poem that served as the basis for America’s national anthem the Star Spangled Banner, should have his name scrubbed from the new bridge when it is built, and that it should instead honor Parren J. Mitchell, the first black man from the state to be elected...

A university library in the UK has placed trigger warnings for "white supremacy" on classic children's books such as Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. York St John University warned readers that historical children's stories written in the 19th and early 20th centuries under their Rees-Williams collection are likely to contain "offensive" examples of "white supremacy" and "colonialist narratives." An online disclaimer for the collection, entitled "Content warning and position statement" says: “Within the 150 years of children’s writing which is represented in the collection, there is a widespread occurrence of colonialist narratives which centre white supremacy, and racist and...

IMAGE: Alex Tabarrok/X Imply ‘only those with a historical tie to the land have a right to belong’ A British museum owned by the University of Cambridge recently “overhauled” its displays with “new signage,” one of which states paintings of the British countryside can conjure up sinister “nationalist feelings.” According to The Telegraph, the Fitzwilliam Museum underwent a “refurbishment” over the last half-decade with “an emphasis on reflecting the ‘evolution of its collection.’” The museum reopened last week with galleries based on themes rather than chronology. A sign for the new “Nature” gallery reads Landscape paintings were also always entangled...

Major retailers in California are now required to have gender-neutral toy aisles under a new state law that went into effect on Monday. The new law requires retail department stores physically located in California with 500 or more employees to “maintain a gender-neutral section or area, to be labeled at the discretion of the retailer.” Stores that already have gender-focused toy areas won’t have to get rid of them but instead add a toy section that would apply to children of any gender, according to the law’s text. The law passed the state Legislature and was signed by Gov. Gavin...

A group of Republican lawmakers are attempting to stop the Pentagon from taking out a Confederate monument belonging to Arlington National Cemetery.Led by Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), the group of lawmakers penned a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday that demands he leaves the Reconciliation Monument, also known as the Confederate Memorial untouched until at least the conclusion of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations process.The monument was set to be taken out by the Pentagon’s Naming Commission, a group formed to rename and remove military installations named after the Confederacy. This came in the wake of the 2020...

An activist history teacher failed a Seattle student on a quiz for saying only women can get pregnant and that only men have penises. A 10th grade Ethnic Studies World History teacher at Chief Sealth International High School in Seattle gave students a quiz titled, “Understanding Gender vs. Sex.” The quiz provided a series of statements to label true or false, or questions with multiple choices. Many of the questions focused on personal pronoun use (When someone uses ‘they/them’ pronouns, what does that mean about their gender identity?” or assumptions one may make around gender identity. (“True/false: Transgender people are...

In a significant move towards fostering inclusivity and distancing avian species from problematic historical figures, the American Ornithological Society (AOS) has announced its intention to rename several North American birds. This initiative, set to impact numerous avian species in Pennsylvania, aims to dissociate these magnificent creatures from namesakes associated with racism. The AOS's decision to rename certain birds stems from the realization that several species, such as the Townsend's warbler and solitaire, bear names that honor individuals with racist backgrounds. Peter Saenger, an ornithologist from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, has highlighted that this project could potentially affect over a dozen...