Washington Post, June 30th
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Miami New Times, June 23rd
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June 30th, From thespiritsbusiness.com
https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2020/06/plantation-rum-to-change-name-due-to-slavery-links/
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Even Fox News jumped into this on July 13th
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/move-to-drop-plantation-from-names
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No offenseā¦ but some of what you have said in terms of how you believe it would be effective and helpful when engaging with āpeople of colorāĀ in order to ārecruitāĀ them into the sport of eventing comes off as a bit awkward at bestā¦ and condescending at worst.
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Wow, that is a real indictment of your fellow eventers. Why would you even continue with eventing if you believe you are surrounded by nasty people who would make āunpleasant remarksā to black people and āgive them the side-eyeā?
Have you been told by black people that this is occurring at events?
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The articles cited by Xctrygirl confirm the impression that this is an issue that has gained currency and sustained attention only in the last few months. That doesnāt mean itās wrong, but itās all the more reason for taking a diplomatic and patient approach rather than hitting the landowner with a Mack truck he didnāt even see coming.
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They are all being called racist on Twitter at the moment along with Laine Ashker and Doug Payne by the next gen. So yes, that is happening. This is the perception from up and coming equestrians.
Please note, that is not my opinion of said riders.
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This is REALLY educational. Thanks for posting and digging into this aspect and explaining more of the potential expenses involved. I thought about it a bit from a marketing aspect in relation to branding as a business strategy and sponsorships, and concluded that a name change would have been a nightmare in terms of phone calls back and forth with key sponsors, and how aggravated a lot of them were possibly going to beā¦ and how much of a headache that all isā¦
But I didnāt think at all about how assets were associated with PFEE as an incorporated entity, or that there would have been legal expense associated with doing Trademark research, etcā¦
I am also still curious whether itās accurate that EN truly wanted the name change to happen effective this year? If soā¦ thatās beyond insane.
EN may be a small social media outletā¦ but they do know all about marketing and branding. Donāt folks at USEF and USEA have a clue? I mean seriouslyā¦ donāt Jenni Autry and Rob Burk have a clear idea as professionals with each organization as to the full scope from a business/financial/branding standpoint of what this request would have meant for PFEE? Even if the PFEE organizers, the full PFEE board, and the land owner had been agreeable to this name change ideaā¦ to try and accomplish this before the Sept competition date would have probably been impossibleā¦ and involved an enormous amount of money and work hours.
The money used to accomplish this name change on the timeline EN apparently wanted could have been instead devoted to supporting a local community oriented non profitā¦ such as Work to Rideā¦ a non profit PFEE had supported in the past. Did EN not care about, or even consider, that opportunity cost when advocating for the name change?
There is one thought that comes to mind to me howeverā¦ having this controversy unfold at presentā¦ whole folks are intensely interested in the topic of racial injustice in our country and in many other sportsā¦ well, if EN planned on covering it and taking credit for advocating and making this change happen with an āeditorialāĀ on their social media and websiteā¦ they would have driven a TON of traffic to their own site. It got boatloads of traffic anywayā¦ because they editorialized anywayā¦ but if they had prevailed in the whole name change request on the timeline they wanted in advance of the September 2020 competitionā¦ they likely would have gotten tons of website traffic, AND not really lost out on any key sponsors of their own. Right now, some of their sponsors are getting lots of emails from angry equestrians because the venue has been lost, in response to which some are reconsidering their relationship with EN. And many people have unfollowed EN. But my guess is that the intensity of attention they drew to their online presence probably still benefits their outlet more than it harms it, on a strictly business level.
Huh. Thatās probably just me being very very cynical and attributing a Machiavellian business strategy to EN in terms of their desire to rush this thing, when it was likely more just a matter of intense and sincere political ideology. But stillā¦ itās something worth thinking about.
USEF and USEA have no discernible reason that I can comprehend to support such a rushed name change. They could have supported the spirit of it, but tapped the brakes on everyone involved in the interests of practicality and offered to help facilitate positive and constructive structure discussion between both parties. I still havenāt heard from anyone or seen any comments indicating someone from either USEF or USEA actually tried to take on that role. Itās really odd.
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@Virginia Horse Mom I think the ādemand they change their nameā for this year is a rumor right now. Unless anyone has proof it was expected before the event? I thought what they wanted to do in the meantime before coming to an agreement was inform them they simply wouldnāt be using the name PF in their media for this year, and in turn, they were booted from attending.
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Well, whatever EN wanted to see happen may have been undercut by the letters written by Ms. Wylie to the BOD of PFEE.
So now my question is did she write and send them in her capacity within EN, or outside of it?
I have to be careful about any possible conflicts of interest that could possibly arise if someone I know applies for a position. I can be used as a personal reference, without naming my job position or employer. Solely āMorgan Sercu - neighborā but nothing else. Did she do the same or did she write those letters using her EN position/watermark/EN email account? It makes a difference.
Even if she wrote them strictly as a private citizen, they knew she was one of the masthead writers of EN - so her words carry more weight and freight.
PFEE has been around for quite some time. Mr. Walker is an attorney. For any member of the BOD to make any public remark about what she wrote it suggests it wasnāt a good look for EN.
We see the results here today.
I feel badly for everyone who loses the event today and in the future who had diddly-squat to do with this fiasco. I feel even worse for non-USEA groups who are also going to lose out, thanks to what happened here. The much smaller guys - like the local 4H club. The dog people who held trials there. The hot air balloon enthusiasts. I doubt any of them are going to feel particularly warm about the USEA directors and quite possibly its members in the near future.
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Again, I donāt agree with how this all was played out, but those saying places like Morven Park should be changed since slavery actually occurred thereā¦how? You canāt change the history of a place. You can, however, if so inclined, change a name. And āMorven Parkā or āPine Topā donāt make a ton of people think of slaves when they hear the name.
Also, EN did know, and allude to, the history of Plantation, and said they knew the place was not used for slaves. They didnāt āignore or refuse to learn the history of the name before attacking the ownersā or whatever. It has nothing to do with the place itself, they did not feel comfortable using the name. There are lots of people that feel the same, believe it or not. So what if last year it appears they didnāt care? Thereās an amazing thing called āchangeā that happens. You hear from others with different viewpoints and it lets you view the world differently. And maybe they did care, but didnāt feel anything could be done.
And camp should be removed as a name because of concentration camps? No. Most donāt think āNazisā when you hear camp. Most donāt think of Japanese internment camps when they hear ācampā either. It doesnāt matter if you think the name should be changed or stay the same, you canāt claim that āplantationā is the same as ācampā. Most people (I havent found one person down here that this doesnāt apply to) associate plantations with slavery. Iām sorry, but that is just the history of this nation. You canāt escape it, you canāt change it to make yourself feel better. You can ignore it if you want, but much better to acknowledge it and move forward ready to try to be better.
Thatās not ācancel cultureā or ābeing wokeā. Thatās recognizing that the world doesnāt revolve around us white people and that we donāt have the only valid opinions and feelings. And if the word bothers people, who the heck do you think you are (general you) to tell them they shouldnāt care? This isnāt precious little snowflakes needing a safe space because that one person looked at them wrong for having gages the size of their head dangling from their ears and it hurt their feelings. This is people who have been affected one way or another by the practice of slavery for a lot of this countryās history (and then general prejudices and being seen as lesser for the way they look for most of the rest of it, even up to today) wanting to be heard, and people trying to hear them wanting to take a stand. Itās now just safer to say āI care about thisā, and know there is a chance it could actually change.
I feel like some of the people arguing against this would rather have done anything but lose the venue. The place could have been called āNazi Child Trafficking Plantationā but as long as we still get to ride there, who cares?
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Wow. I donāt follow anything horse related on Twitter, only on FB, and the COTH forums. But I will go take a look.
I saw comments earlier about people being upset at some video involving Doug Payne and a Gadsden flag. Iām really tired of anyone deciding if someone has political views that align with one component of one side or anotherā¦ that they therefore are automatically aligned with every single aspect of the most extreme parts of either side of the spectrum of ideas and beliefs.
I will admitā¦ this is my first time venturing back in the forums in months after taking a break, because of blowback I got from folks when I foolishly dipped a toe into the topic of masks and Covid. Apparently, whatever I have ever posted on the topic of SafeSport and my sincerely held convictions on underlying issues related to it is irrelevantā¦ because I have different opinions than some folks on whether masks should be mandated.
I received some truly bizarre and ugly PMs that were profoundly personal.
Call me crazyā¦ but I think this whole issue with respect to political correctness, the venue name, and assuming that anyone who MIGHT be a registered Republican is ALSO automatically likely to be a racist, or a friend of a racistā¦ or something along those linesā¦ I think itās a really bad thing for the sport and has the potential to be incredibly harmful in ways the younger generation donāt fully understand. The revolution will eat its own if they keep this up.
Iāll fully admit that I didnāt intend to pop back up on the forums after that ugliness. But heyā¦ here I am. Oh well.
If nothing else, Iām glad I came back to participate in a discussion and found out in the process that I could actually engage in a polite and thoughtful manner with another poster (atl_hunter) who I have previously gotten into really ugly and personal arguments with multiple times in the past. That actually is something I feel positive about 
I hope they do as well.
I think our whole community in both sport, and society at large would be a much healthier and better community if occasionally we could all figure out a way to settle down, and embrace the common ground we can occasionally find with people we sincerely disagree with on specific issues. Embrace discussion and try and be constructive and learnā¦ instead of automatically assuming that just because you dislike some opinions someone else holdsā¦ you dislike and tune out EVERY SINGLE OPINION they hold on any topicā¦ no matter what.
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I thought just equestrian events lost the lease.
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I read the announcement as a loss of the land entirely to PFEE.
Denis Glaccum, president of Plantation Field Equestrian Events, Inc., released the following statement this week:
āWe are sad to announce today that Cuyler Walker, a PFEE Board member and landowner of Plantation Field, has with great regret canceled our lease for the property on which the Plantation Field International Three-Day Event is held."
That doesnāt sound promising for PFEE. If they also handle the contracts for other events on that same site, then itās gone.
Maybe it isnāt and only USEA is being frozen out. I have my fingers, toes and seye tightly crossed that the damage hasnāt extended any further than USEA (and I feel TERRIBLE for the USEA competitors loss of this venue).
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Thanks for clarifying that point. I am not privy to anything too specific on the actual demands that went from EN to the organizersā¦ but it does seem relevant to understand that component of the whole thing.
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Yes and I think one of the biggest issues here is we all only have one slice of the info and the story so far, which doesnāt seem to be helping anyone, sadly.
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VHM - Iām bumping this. I donāt know if this is helpful or informative or not.
Originally posted by MorganSercu View Post
The land owner is on the board of PFEE too. And if USEA and USEF werenāt going to use the name of the venue in any media articles or publications, one that chosen by the landowner years ago to honor his familyās history in the area, then after this year, they wouldnāt have to use of it at all. FEI always Unionville, so it wasnāt a change.
Sadly, it appears that EN was so obnoxious about the whole thing, Mr. Walker has decided no one is welcome to use it at all.
My guess.
I found this comment in the string of comments to āThe Problem with āPlantationāā article:
Amy Ruth Borun
Tori Kager I am one of the ātheyā you keep referring to as part of the organizing committee. You were not in any of our meetings nor have you seen the very ugly unprofessional letters Lesley- the editor wrote.
You do not know any of the conversations which occurred. Karen Rubin is correct. I wish you would try to get information from all sources
From further down the comment string:
Amy Ruth Borun
After all the letters you wrote Lesley and this article you actually say you were just trying to start a discussion?!! That was not part of your letters to the USEA to the USEF or to Denis. You were very clear you wanted something and it wasnāt a discussion
(redacted)
Please publish the letters. I think thatās a fair response to this situation as EN are clearly trying to paint themselves as the good guys here.
Amy Ruth Borun
(redacted) canāt not allowed sadly
Ms. Borun is on the PFEE BOD - which I suspect 99% of you knew, but I had to go find because while I admire eventing greatly, but itās not my jam.
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Yes I agree with these pointsā¦slippery slope.
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So, if the lease IS canceled and use of the field is no longer possible for PFEE, that means the dissolution of the 501c3 and the remaining assets have to go to a similar 501c3. If itās running at a loss, then there is nothing to give away. Right?
Once the decision has been made to dissolve, the nonprofit must stop transacting business, except to wind down its activities. Any remaining assets must be used to pay debts and liabilities. If assets remain after paying debts, the nonprofit (if it is a 501c3) must distribute them to another 501c3 organization.
Is there another 501c3 that would qualify to receive any assets that remained? Maybe the Work to Ride program?
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