Eventing Nation booted from covering Event in Unionville, PA

[Xanthoria]

@CindyCRNA

No one is feeling deep pain and oppression over this venue. No one.

The word plantation has been changing in meaning and perception for quite some years now. And it may not make you feel oppressed but unless you are black you don’t get to speak for how black people feel. Even if you’re black, you don’t get to speak for how ALL black people feel.

@CindyCRNA

Grow up.

It could be argued that the growing should be done by those who cannot see the world is changing, and that their narrow view of what’s OK is going to have to change…

Everyone who is upset: yeah it sucks to lose a venue, but the land owner could easily have said “oh wow - you’re right: that’s an easy change!” instead of digging deeper and refusing to see what’s going on in the world - people giving a damn about racism. Don’t throw yourself on the wrong side of history and get angry at liberals or woke people or whatever scapegoat you like over a sporting day - the bigger issue is much, much more important. Throw your anger at the land owner and his pig-headedness.

[Djones]

@Xanthoria

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.

Nope. As another poster stated:

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 (in this sport) right now.

It was called a PLANTATION because of the TREES, woke folks.

[Old_Mac_Donald]

Eventing indigNation…

[SecondInCommand]

@seriously?

You have some research for this as well? You really think that the goal of Black people is to make money looting? They are unconcerned about years of systemic racism?

I took the second part of @RacetrackReject’s post as a reference the landowner of the property in question’s FB. The same landowner that revoked the lease after being asked to change the name of the event to something less loaded. I initially read it twice too, it may benefit from some italics.

[Old_Mac_Donald]

@Horsegirl's Mom

Would you take your Master’s degree off the wall and refer to it in some oblique way on your resume? Or do you think it’s okay to call it a “Master’s degree” since it is not intended to reference slavery?

I’m in the process of completing my Masters… never thought of this! Might have to say I’m doing a Mistress degree instead!

[Xanthoria]

@Djones

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 (in this sport) right now.

Racism is bigger than horse sport. Educate yourself.

[RainWeasley]

Wow, I’m a bit disappointed at some of the reactions to this.

I was chatting with a black girl in comments on a post about this. I asked her what she thought about all of this. You know what she said? "No one has ever asked me what my opinion is, you are the first one. Everyone just tells me what I should think about it " (paraphrasing slightly but almost word for word).

All of you saying no one was upset about the name, let that sink in. Just because you didn’t care, doesn’t mean no one else did. My first reaction was the same as yours, until I stopped and actually thought about it (and read the article, it so was not what people are saying it was).

Good for EN for standing up for this topic. Shame on the owner for just canceling the venue instead of trying to at least discuss it. That helps no one. Hopefully he comes back open for discussion after some time to cool off. Nothing said was an attack toward him or his family.

[Horsegirl_s_Mom]

@Old Mac Donald

I’m in the process of completing my Masters… never thought of this! Might have to say I’m doing a Mistress degree instead!

Right. And just be glad your last name isn’t Lee or Jackson.

[SusanO]

[B]2. /B a group of cultivated trees or plants

There is more than one definition for “plantation”. Around here in the South there are frequently listed " pine plantation" properties for sale that have nothing to do with “Tara” or slavery. It sounds like this property got its name from this definition. I imagine the owner just didn’t want to deal with the hassle and said forget it and I doubt anybody else will get the lease.

Now I have no problem removing confederate statues but in this case I think it was taking things too far.

[lcw579]

@SecondInCommand

I took the second part of @RacetrackReject’s post as a reference the landowner of the property in question’s FB. The same landowner that revoked the lease after being asked to change the name of the event to something less loaded. I initially read it twice too, it may benefit from some italics.

You are right, but not the landowner’s it was the organizer’s Facebook.

[Trak_Eventer]

I think the point EN was making was very valid. I think, as a white person, I need to listen and learn from POC and take their lead. The word plantation doesn’t directly affect me, but the generational trauma behind the premise of a plantation is a deep wound I can’t even pretend to comprehend for POC. There were so many other ways this could have gone… develop a task force, look into committing to a name change for next year’s event, etc. To cancel the lease was a knee jerk reaction. To me, it was like a toddler covering their ears and going, “la, la, la, la.”

It is an issue with SOCIETY today where people do not actually listen with the intend of learning and understanding the WHY behind someone’s views. There are reasons that the equestrian world is mostly white. Those are societal barriers. Eventers can do better and be better.

There is a lot of truth in what UL eventer Ema Klugman said on Facebook:

Ask yourself, what would we have lost by changing the name from Plantation Field to another name? What would we have gained?
The word “plantation” has an awful, terrible association with land owned by whites and farmed with the labor of enslaved people. There is no reason for a sporting event to be called Plantation Field. The people supporting the name staying as it was just shows how backward our horse community and sport is. The event should have engaged in discussion based on the concerns raised. Then they should have just changed the name, released a statement about how they understood its horrible connotation, and hoped this action would improve the inclusivity of the sport. End of story.

[riderboy]

@poltroon

Why keeping this name is more important to them than disassociating the event from any reference to slavery, I cannot guess.

If we are going to erase any conceivable connection to slavery in this country and around the world then we’ve got a lot of work to do. How about the State of Virginia for starters? Well known slave State… And after we’ve re-named all the States, cities, streets and our country, what then? Does that change our education system, historical fact or magically eradicate racism? As far as I know, Plantation Field has no connection at all to slavery. As far as I know no one has ever been offended by the name. What EN has done is fractured a formerly tight knit Eventing community along rather dubious political lines, in the name of ‘wokeness’, lost an irreplaceable show venue that this spot cn hardly afford to lose, and lost itself a lot of support in the process. If you were so offended by the name, did you boycott the show? Did you protest to the owners over all these years? Newsflash: insulting property owners by insinuating they’re racists is a spectacular stupid thing to do.

https://www.facebook.com/PlantationFieldInternational/posts/10158516108991061?tn=K-R

[Old_Mac_Donald]

@Horsegirl's Mom

Right. And just be glad your last name isn’t Lee or Jackson.

I work with a Lee and a few Jacksons. Also I have a family member named after Andrew Jackson…

My name (IRL) means “black”. Guess I should be changing that.

[Old_Mac_Donald]

@riderboy

As far as I know, Plantation Field has no connection at all to slavery. As far as I know no one has ever been offended by the name. What EN has done is fractured a formerly tight knit Eventing community along rather dubious political lines, in the name of ‘wokeness’, lost an irreplaceable show venue that this spot cn hardly afford to lose, and lost itself a lot of support in the process. If you were so offended by the name, did you boycott the show? Did you protest to the owners over all these years?

Newsflash: insulting property owners by insinuating they’re racists is a spectacular stupid thing to do.

THIS.

Why do people not get this?

[SecondInCommand]

@lcw579

You are right, but not the landowner’s it was the organizer’s Facebook.

Thank you! My mistake

[UpAndComing]

The issue here is a media outlet went to the USEF and the USEA to get the name changed, they didn’t talk to the event or the land owner. And as a sport we lost out as a result. The point is a media outlet should not be going To a governing body to petition the change. When it didn’t get changed they published an article. That made some fair points but was not claimed by any specific author nor did they include any POC view points. It’s shady.

[Djones]

@RainWeasley

Wow, I’m a bit disappointed at some of the reactions to this.

I was chatting with a black girl in comments on a post about this. I asked her what she thought about all of this. You know what she said? "No one has ever asked me what my opinion is, you are the first one. Everyone just tells me what I should think about it " (paraphrasing slightly but almost word for word).

All of you saying no one was upset about the name, let that sink in. Just because you didn’t care, doesn’t mean no one else did. My first reaction was the same as yours, until I stopped and actually thought about it (and read the article, it so was not what people are saying it was).

Good for EN for standing up for this topic. Shame on the owner for just canceling the venue instead of trying to at least discuss it. That helps no one. Hopefully he comes back open for discussion after some time to cool off. Nothing said was an attack toward him or his family.

If this were on a property that was a slave-driven plantation, I would be with you on this point. But it is not. This property was named thusly because of…trees.

[TXnGA]

@Xanthoria

“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…

Ok, in that theory, slavery ended with the thirteenth amendment which was ratified in 1865 which abolished slavery. So unless you know some 200, almost 300 year old people, no one alive has seen slavery. So how can The word “plantation” offend Them? Why must we start associating EVERY LITTLE THING with racism and slavery. Why are white “woke” people deciding what is racist!

[Marigold]

@poltroon

Glaccum’s letter is a temper tantrum and he should be embarrassed by it.

And on his invocation of the First Amendment, not only is he wrong constitutionally (the First Amendment doesn’t say the media has to publish anything a random private citizen wishes) but it completely undermines his other argument, that the word “plantation” is innocuous and isn’t political speech.

Exactly. Personally, I very much enjoyed his lecture about his First Amendment freedoms to call his event whatever he wants (which, to be fair, he can - he’s just not free of the consequences of that) when paired with the following:

I am extremely disappointed in the lack of leadership at the National level in dealing with this situation.

By that, I can only assume he means he wishes the national federation had succeeded in censoring an online blog prior to them publishing something he disagreed with. Interesting, that.

@lcw579

You are right, but not the landowner’s it was the organizer’s Facebook.

You are correct. I’m not so willing to take the organizer’s version of events at face value. I understand that the lease was cancelled (that’s a pretty black-and-white fact that seems pointless to lie about), but I’m considering the source of the “because EN posted a big mean article about us” allegation. I can think of other reasons to cancel the lease. For instance, if the lessor insisted on calling my property a plantation in the year 2020.

[riderboy]

Statement from Denis Glaccum on facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/PlantationF…061?tn=K-R

Plantation Field International Horse Trials

4h ·

Plantation Field Equestrian Events, Inc. (PFEE), a Non-Profit 501 ©(3) Corporation, Loses Property Lease

September 16, 2020 – Unionville, PA – We 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. This is directly due to the attack on the name “Plantation” by Eventing Nation, an equestrian online news journal.
EN and their editors approached the equestrian media and the United States Eventing Association in June, 2020 to state that they felt the name “Plantation” was insensitive to people of color.
Let me explain the history of this property: in the 1930’s Plunket Stewart, who had purchased land in the early twentieth century, allowed the Boy Scouts to use a section of the property to plant hedges and trees. The dictionary defines the word “Plantation” as “an area in which trees have been planted”. Colonial Pennsylvania considered properties less than 100 acres a farm and properties with more than 100 acres a plantation. There is no reference to race in this definition.
The Unionville area is historically a Quaker community. The Quakers were one of the earliest abolitionist groups and fought against slavery. This area was also part of the underground railroad.
On a personal level, PFEE and the Unionville community have long supported Work to Ride, an organization in Philadelphia created with dedication by Lezlie Hiner, that gives disadvantaged, often minority, youth an opportunity to ride. This program has had impressive results with Kareem Rosser, who is an outstanding polo player, and who has taken lessons from PFEE Board member and Olympians Boyd Martin and Phillip Dutton.
The editors of Eventing Nation have aggressively led the campaign against the name Plantation Field. Consequently the USEA and USEF have since notified PFEE that they would not use the word “Plantation” in any media or articles. Plantation Field Equestrian Events, Inc. is the legal name of the Corporation and we will not accept censoring of our First Amendment rights.
I want it clearly stated that as a member of the USEA since 1960 and as a longtime resident of Unionville, I find it incredibly sad that the staff at a publication who do not understand the history of the area are directly causing the end of one of the best and most consistent events in the country.
A major factor in Cuyler’s decision was his feeling that he and his family were being called racist. He will not have his grandparents’ generous support of the Boy Scouts vilified by Eventing Nation and the USEA.
Having spent sixty years supporting the sport of Eventing in every capacity, I am extremely disappointed in the lack of leadership at the National level in dealing with this situation. This event welcomes riders from Elementary to the 4* level at multiple competitions at the local, National and International level each year. It is also local to numerous professional riders including several Olympians. The loss of Plantation Field will be a huge loss to the entire equestrian community.

Denis Glaccum
President, PFEE, Inc.