It sounds like they won’t reconsider unless the attack on the name goes away. I got the above press release as an email at 2:20 today.
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I read it as the landowner feels that he and his family were insulted by EN and USEA and so he doesn’t want to support eventing anymore.
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The way I read above (the last quote) it is the landowner that is upset.
Edit to add: Gardenhorse and I had the same thought.
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The irony of being upset about words while claiming words have no meaning/power.
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You make a good point.
I also don’t see how helping the boy scouts 50 years ago makes the place above having an oppressing name, but I obviously don’t know enough about the situation to properly judge anyone. I just know that yes, a lot of people do find that name super offensive.
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Since Eventing Nation wants to be an instrument for social change I hope we can all encourage them to help financially support the Work to Ride program that has benefited from PFEE.
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No one wants to be forced to change anything that occurs on their private property. USEA and EN went too hard, too fast with this ‘request’ that was actually a demand and the landowners got pissed. I would, too.
This family has been NOTHING BUT GENEROUS for generations and this is what they get? Some woke BS?
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“they felt the name “Plantation” was insensitive to people of color.” - it is. And peoples who have not been enslaved can never understand that pain. The only right response is to accept the pain and do what you can to listen and respond appropriately. Ditching the word “plantation” is such a tiny gesture - it is the very least they could do. If anyone throws their toys out of the pram over this… wow…
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I just read it online. What a shame.
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I have seen quite a few of the same/similar comments floating around. My thoughts on them, worth exactly the paper they are written on, are as follows:
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“Germany has things with Nazi in the name and we don’t make them change those!” Yes, things centered around education and understanding that particular topic, such as memorials and museums. They do not have fun horse festivals named Auschwitz or statues of Hitler.
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“If you change/erase the name, you forget the horrors!” Is a horse show named Plantation really helping anyone remember what enslaved populations endured for years? Or would that goal be better accomplished in textbooks, at museums, and in schools?
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“How dare Eventing Nation ask this venue to change their name?” Well, they didn’t. They didn’t feel comfortable plastering the word all over their own site, and when it became clear that it would remain, they quietly approached the venue to ask if they had a preference for alternative nomenclature (such as “Unionville”, as the event is already known to the FEI). Many sports commentators did this with Washington’s football team for years before the team finally changed their name. The USEF has actually already made the switch from “Plantation” to “Unionville” in their published literature so far (Example: https://useventing.com/news-media/ne…YX4mvjZ8srUIEQ). But when EN discussed this with the organizer, they were barred from attending. Since the gap in coverage would be glaring, they addressed it.
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“Eventing is dying, we need to protect all the venues we can!” If eventing is in jeopardy, it’s because we are having a hard time attracting and retaining participants and sponsors. Maybe, just maybe, if people of color didn’t have to compete at a venue named Plantation, they’d be happier to give the sport a try, or to send sponsorship dollars our way? Interest can blossom just by being a spectator, and many of these wonderful events are free to attend – but inviting my black neighbor to come hang out at Plantation for the weekend is an insanely tone-deaf thing to do. Being welcoming and inclusive is the cure, not the disease.
This is breaking my heart in so many ways, from the loss of the venue to the vitriol flying around the comments sections. But if we can’t share our nice things with everyone, maybe we don’t deserve to have them at all.
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Excellent point
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No.
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You’ve never heard of a pine plantation? Meaning land that is solely dedicated to growing pine trees?
Better tear the plantation shutters off of your lovely houses, folks.
Your clutch in your car has a slave cylinder. Better get rid of your car.
I’m 100% on board with BLM, arresting the cops who killed Breonna Taylor, cleaning house on the PD who so casually killed Daniel Prude, etc etc etc
But I’m 100% aggravated at this level of hyper wokeness.
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Right off the bat EN jumped down the owner’s throat comparing them to the Redskins owner who refused to change the name of the team for decades even though he knew why it was so offensive.
if the tone of that article is how EN and USEA initially approached the venue then I can’t blame them for telling them pound sand. Immature, but understandable.
I think the name should be changed, but I also think everyone in this situation ended up showing their butt.
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I’m not a fan of cancel culture, but do you feel that if it does make some people feel less excluded and oppressed that a name change is really all that bad?
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Your feeling aggravated that other people experience deep pain and oppression because of other’s poor choice of words reflects more on you than anyone else in this situation.
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Virtue signalling run amok—this will only hurt any up & coming “riders of colour/other ethnicity” by losing the event facility over a PC overstep of bounds concerning a name.
Someone had better rapidly publish (& clearly date the document as it would expire within the next few months) a “current acceptable word dictionary” for the English language (& perhaps it would also be needed for other languages as well) —have each term signed off by each & every possible interested party etc.
History cannot be undone for anyone. This particular property’s naming was a non-slavery tree plantation at its roots—even if that were not the case then the descendants of slaves/ workers should be proud of the work & survival that their ancestors achieved even under duress. If none of this history occurred, they would not be here today.
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There is also “master/slave” terminology related to computer hardware and programming and some companies have actually recognized that this is offensive and have changed their terminology to things like “primary/replica”. Some realtor associations are also no longer using “master” bedroom, and referring to “primary/main” bedroom instead.
No one is asking you to get rid of your car or your shutters, but just to consider that maybe you could refer to them without offensive words. Again I would point to the irony mentioned above - if the word isn’t important than why do you care if people want to change it.
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No, this is “woke” white people deciding what is racist, when there is in fact no racism, in the name. We just lost of the biggest international events on the east coast when keeping and supporting our events are one of the most important things right now. EN had no right to go to the governing bodies to force their “woke” mindset on a venue. Shame on you EN.
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Ok, I’ll say it: EN went too far with its click bait. What a loss.
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