Eventing Nation booted from covering Event in Unionville, PA

[Limitless]

I recently read an article about Dolly Parton in Billboard magazine. I am not a country music fan, nor do I have anything other than a general, celebrity bit of knowledge about Dolly Parton. I was really struck by this:

Flexibility benefits Parton in other ways. In 2018 she renamed her Dixie Stampede dinner attraction Dolly Parton’s Stampede as she became more aware of how hurtful the term “Dixie” and its associations with the Confederacy could be — perhaps because of a 2017 Slate article that cast a critical eye on its rosy, family-friendly depictions of the Civil War. (At the time, the Dollywood Company said it was also eyeing an international expansion and noted that “Dixie” wouldn’t translate abroad.) “There’s such a thing as innocent ignorance, and so many of us are guilty of that,” she says now. “When they said ‘Dixie’ was an offensive word, I thought, ‘Well, I don’t want to offend anybody. This is a business. We’ll just call it The Stampede.’ As soon as you realize that [something] is a problem, you should fix it. Don’t be a dumbass. That’s where my heart is. I would never dream of hurting anybody on purpose.”

It’s such a simple concept. It really struck me and I’ve thought about it a lot ever since. Also, I would love to meet Dolly Parton. She seems like a brave, kiss-ass, genius human being.

[MustangSavvy]

@ivy62

This is the will of the owner. If you don’t like it go somewhere else. Why is everything about race? When the White Sox were called the Black socks does anyone know the real reason? I do. It was because Cominsky was so cheap he wouldn’t pay to wash the socks! Should we remove the word black and white from the dictionary? People need to get over themselves. I, myself, are Jewish and I do not hold the modern day Germans responsible for what happened before. Learn from it and move on. Why are these people born in the USA, of ALL race, simply not Americans?
The owner has the right to determine what they name there farms. It is legal. IS it worth throwing away such support? Is EN and the USEA going to financially support another event that suits their agenda? Off my soap box now

Systemic racism permeates every aspect of our society today. What you are seeing is a reckoning of four hundred years of systemic racism that has never been legitimately addressed. You walk into cities and see statues of people who fought to keep people enslaved, etc. It is abysmal and WAY past time for change.

But here’s the thing, there are no statues honoring Hitler or any Nazis for that matter. Germany has addressed the horrors of the past. It is simply not comparable.

[TMares]

@Happyhack

Connotations do change over time, for which reason there is no point trotting out the history behind a name. Here the UK we had a similar controversy a few weeks ago when the BBC, which has become overtly woke, demanded Rule Britannia be dropped from the Last Night of the Proms. The backlash proved a distraction from Covid and Brexit for a week or so and it dominated the news. For those who dont know the Proms, its an annual summer occasion when millions of Brits who have paid no attention to the previous six weeks of classical Proms concerts tune into the last night, wave Union Jacks and sing words such as “Britons never ever ever shall be slaves.” Dozens of academics weighed in to inform us that the verse was written 300 years ago and was inspired by the Roman occupation of Britain, which lasted 400 years from about 40 AD. But they are wasting their breath because while to many its just a harmless night of national pride, the words are now genuinely offensive to the BAME community here (Black, Asian and Minority Etnic.) In the middle of all this, the BBC got a new director general, and he reinstated Rule Britannia on his first day in the job.

From what I have read, EN’s poor handling of this whole issue partly relates to their inexperience. The equestrian media now comprises two kinds of operation. One is the online offer of titles with a long print heritage like COTH and in the UK, Horse & Hound, who have accumulated decades of experience and will still have some properly newspaper trained folks on the staff. Michael Clayton, a former long time editor of H&H, had been a BBC war correspondent in Vietnam and a national newspaper editor before he opted to spend later life in equestrianism. That is the category of publication which will still produce well researched investigative pieces. I also believe that Kenneth Braddick who runs Dressage-News.com was a Washington and/or war correspondent for Reuters or a similar agency for most of his career - you can see that in his very methodical way of writing. The other category of online publication is the websites begun by sport enthusiasts who developed writing skills as they went along. I suspect EN falls into that category. Most of the time they get away with it in straightforward reporting of events and feel good rider profiles etc etc, but notably they will usually dodge exposes that need a lot of research and corroboration of facts because that kind of serious journalistm is not in the amateur’s skill set. To me, this is partly where EN’s approach to PF was flawed. There are more subtle ways of cajoling someone into changing something you don’t like. A cannier old journalist would have found someone else to raise the issue, reported what the third party said and offered the subject of criticism the right of reply in the same article, which latter process is fundamental to all reporting. They’d have built up the case for changing the name brick by brick in a series of articles. If its true the EN went straight to USEA and by-passed PF, I am not surprised it has backfired in such a big way.

Beautifully stated and I hope everyone reads it closely. Related to this, the notion that “EN starting in June is plenty of time” is a dead giveaway that EN went about this all wrong.

[Rnichols]

@FitToBeTied

The problem with your argument is that in this case there were no people of color involved, just a bunch of elitist white people.

You know, I posted that and thought someone is going to say the exact thing you just said. First of all, it doesn’t make what I said any less valid. And second of all, who is to say EN didn’t “ask nicely” - nobody knows the entire backstory. Additionally, the statement from the owners was sent / published PRIOR to the EN article. So for everyone saying “oh it’s EN’s fault I’m boycotting etc etc”, it was actually before they posted their article, so…

Saying that “only elitist white people” are involved is ridiculous (the nicest term I can think of to use). As many others have pointed out, the term plantation is offensive to many POC. Just because YOU don’t find it offensive, or your one black friend doesn’t find it offensive doesn’t mean it’s NOT offensive. And at this point it goes beyond being “offensive”. It is a term that many people think of and associate it with slavery. S L A V E R Y. WHY is it SUCH a big deal that USEA/USEF don’t refer to the event by that name anymore? Seriously - I want to know, why is it such a big ****ing deal. If it’s “just a name” (as the argument goes) then it shouldn’t matter. I am so beyond sick of this. This goes so much deeper than a name and the eventing - it is everywhere in the world and its horrible we are even having this discussion. People say “oh don’t riot and loot, protest peacefully” - yet peaceful protest is still “bad”. Like I mentioned earlier, look at the NFL. Players taking a “moment of silence” AFTER the national anthem as their form of protest and its booed. End racism in the end zones is laughed at. Cam Newton of the New England Patriots (my favorite team, btw) wore cleats that supported Jacob Blake and people had an issue with it. So yeah, asking “nicely” clearly doesn’t work. MLK, as an example. He protested peacefully and got killed AND here we are in 20 ****ing 20 still talking about race.

[Jealoushe]

@Limitless

I recently read an article about Dolly Parton in Billboard magazine. I am not a country music fan, nor do I have anything other than a general, celebrity bit of knowledge about Dolly Parton. I was really struck by this:

It’s such a simple concept. It really struck me and I’ve thought about it a lot ever since. Also, I would love to meet Dolly Parton. She seems like a brave, kiss-ass, genius human being.

I love this and Dolly. She seems like truly genuine woman. Also Jolene is just the best song ever. Go Dolly.

[OverandOnward]

Could we keep in mind that EN did not cancel the event? The owner made a unilateral decision to pull the lease.

I doubt that anyone would have anticipated that reaction. Although he cited media coverage as a reason, he seemed to blame the organizer and even all eventing for - well, everything that he found objectionable.

EN had no idea and no intention that this would happen. I doubt anyone anticipated this. It is 100% the decision of one individual (according to him).

@TXnGA

There in lies the problem. EN didn’t ask the organizers to change the name. They demanded they change the name by going to the governing bodies and demanding the name be changed. EN started a war back in June on Plantation Field to force a name change. They didn’t ask for a thoughtful discussion. They tried to get people/ riders/ sponsors/ community to boycott the event to force their mindset on Plantation Field.

How do you know that exactly this is what happened?

“They didn’t ask for a thoughtful discussion.” They tried to organize a boycott. How do you know?

Is it documented somewhere? Or is there some private knowledge behind it?

I have not seen the specific details of EN’s actions provided by EN, and/or other direct participants. What was said to who, the response, etc. Many people are making statements about the details of what EN did, but they don’t all seem to agree. They don’t way where they got the information.

If EN hasn’t provided that information, then I’m wondering if people are just making up what they think could have, might have, happened. But if so, that’s not helpful.

@LockeMeadows

I’m not sure if anyone has pointed it out, but EN does not offer a very diverse staff. No POC. Literally it is run by white women. The USEA is not that diverse either. Perhaps since both are taking such a strong approach to promote inclusion, they can alter their demographics a bit? Always clean your own house before you tells others what is wrong with theirs.

EN has offered a platform for several equestrians of color to tell their own story in their own way. What other equestrian publication in these disciplines has done that?

And EN offered that platform again today …

@Jealoushe

From a POC in the sport: https://eventingnation.com/why-words-matter/

[Rnichols]

@Djones

I know how hard I bow and scrape to host a flipping schooling show at a private property…know what I mean? You cannot offend the owners and come to a happy conclusion.

The IRONY. The name is offensive. But the owners are offended so they shut down an entire event. LOL

Honestly, something tells me this event had other issues (likely $$) and they used this as an excuse to stop running it.

[Horsegirl_s_Mom]

@Happyhack

To me, this is partly where EN’s approach to PF was flawed. There are more subtle ways of cajoling someone into changing something you don’t like. A cannier old journalist would have found someone else to raise the issue, reported what the third party said and offered the subject of criticism the right of reply in the same article, which latter process is fundamental to all reporting. They’d have built up the case for changing the name brick by brick in a series of articles. If its true the EN went straight to USEA and by-passed PF, I am not surprised it has backfired in such a big way.

That is very insightful.

I acknowledge the point that the meanings and connotations of words can change over time, but I think hyper-woke people fail to realize how jarring it is to people to be told that a word in common and acceptable usage for their entire lifetimes is suddenly wrong and racist. Did you know that the state of Rhode Island was officially known as “The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” until 2 months ago?? That’s when the state government stopped using the second part of the name. It’s on the ballot this November for the voters to decide whether the name should officially be changed. “Plimoth Plantation” still goes by that name, but apparently is planning a name change for next year.

The point is, this is a very, very new concern when it comes to old-fashioned uses of the term (in the North no less) that have nothing to do with slavery. Maybe there will come to be a consensus that we should eliminate the word everywhere it appears even when it has nothing to do with slavery. (Kind of like you’re not supposed to say “niggardly” anymore even though it has nothing to do with race). But we’re not there yet. A lot of ordinary middle-aged folks who aren’t in academic settings probably don’t even know this has become an issue. Even if ultimately it’s decided the name should be changed (which I still think is illogical in this case), the situation called for a gradual process, not a bulldozer.

[LockeMeadows]

@Xanthoria

That’s a false dichotomy: it’s not either have a perfectly diverse workforce or you can’t take a stance against racism. A group doesn’t have to be perfectly diverse to be strong allies to other groups. In fact if we waited for all companies and groups to have flawless diversity before they did anything else we’d be effectively crushing forward progress in preventing racism. That could leave minority groups to do all the work in addressing these issues and that doesn’t feel very fair, does it?

No, it illustrates they are hypocrites. EN has NO diversity. It isn’t just “imperfect”. There is literally not one POC listed as staff on their website. They say they have POC on their payroll (per another post), yet these employees are hidden from public view and are not even mentioned as contributing members of this business in any obvious place on their website. I’m certain Eventing has POC who participate. If you go back through EN’s posts, there is extremely limited POC on their site. Of course, the picture on the home page they have now is a male POC. Talk about virtual signaling. Why would EN not push diversity on their platform until they started this attack on PF? The USEA board is not much better. Does that make POC feel welcome when they see the governing body of an organization is predominately white?

[DLee]

@LockeMeadows

No, it illustrates they are hypocrites. EN has NO diversity. It isn’t just “imperfect”. There is literally not one POC on their staff. I’m certain Eventing has POC who participate. If you go back through EN’s posts, there is extremely limited POC on their site. Of course, the picture on the home page they have now is a male POC. Talk about virtual signaling. Why would EN not push diversity on their platform until they started this attack on PF? The USEA board is not much better. Does that make POC feel welcome when they see the governing body of an organization is predominately white?

Could not agree with this more.

[poltroon]

If white people don’t have standing to talk about racial insensitivity and injustice and black people don’t have standing to talk about racial insensitivity and injustice, and latino and indigenous and asian people don’t have standing either, who is left to talk about it?

[Xanthoria]

@LockeMeadows

No, it illustrates they are hypocrites. EN has NO diversity. It isn’t just “imperfect”. There is literally not one POC on their staff. I’m certain Eventing has POC who participate. If you go back through EN’s posts, there is extremely limited POC on their site. Of course, the picture on the home page they have now is a male POC. Talk about virtual signaling. Why would EN not push diversity on their platform until they started this attack on PF? The USEA board is not much better. Does that make POC feel welcome when they see the governing body of an organization is predominately white?

It’s not hypocritical to be an ally to black people and say “we all can do better”

Does EN have a DEI advisor? Other plans in the works for becoming more diverse? Is their workforce a reflection of eventing as a whole right now, and they’re struggling to find black people to join them? We don’t know the answers to these questions, but none of that means they cannot say the word “plantation” is emblematic of the wrong things.

Now if it was called Plantation Nation, and they were criticizing someone else who use the word Plantation, that would be hypocritical.

[Jealoushe]

@LockeMeadows

No, it illustrates they are hypocrites. EN has NO diversity. It isn’t just “imperfect”. There is literally not one POC on their staff. I’m certain Eventing has POC who participate. If you go back through EN’s posts, there is extremely limited POC on their site. Of course, the picture on the home page they have now is a male POC. Talk about virtual signaling. Why would EN not push diversity on their platform until they started this attack on PF? The USEA board is not much better. Does that make POC feel welcome when they see the governing body of an organization is predominately white?

Not true, they advised they had a few POC on their payroll. So please correct yourself.

Also, the have been championing for months for POC, tonnes of articles, presence, etc. So again, maybe know what you’re talking about before spreading this misinfo.

[Manahmanah]

@LockeMeadows

No, it illustrates they are hypocrites. EN has NO diversity. It isn’t just “imperfect”. There is literally not one POC on their staff. I’m certain Eventing has POC who participate. If you go back through EN’s posts, there is extremely limited POC on their site. Of course, the picture on the home page they have now is a male POC. Talk about virtual signaling. Why would EN not push diversity on their platform until they started this attack on PF? The USEA board is not much better. Does that make POC feel welcome when they see the governing body of an organization is predominately white?

Because the entire thing was a publicity grab for a site that is largely beciming irrelevant to thrust themselves into the spotlight by jumping on a popular social topic.

It’s been said in this thread before, but as white people it’s important to be an ally by amplifying black voices. Not to decide for them what issues need to be addressed. EN was not amplifying any Black voices. They said themselves nobody had contacted them. Likewise, in the history of the event, not one person has offered feedback to the area Ii chair that the name was problematic. EN also didnt work with the area II leadership, they used their weight to go straight to the higher governing bodies and force the change.

As a lifelong northerner I do not personally feel that the word plantation is synonymous with slavery. However, I recognize that in other areas of the country and particularly with POC that they may feel differently.

The intention of making the sport more inclusive to POC is a great one. The execution of this by EN was horrible, overly aggressive, and IMO not without ulterior motive. If it had been just simply them wanting to spark a discussion to bring more inclusivity to the sport, they would not have thrown the weight of the governing bodies and their large subscription base behind it to create a trial by public opinion.

[LockeMeadows]

@Jealoushe

Not true, they advised they had a few POC on their payroll. So please correct yourself.

Also, the have been championing for months for POC, tonnes of articles, presence, etc. So again, maybe know what you’re talking about before spreading this misinfo.

EN sure hides it if they do employee POC. I will change my post to say EN says they have POC on their staff, but their website only shows that they utilize white women for their business. I am going off the information posted on EN’s webpage at the time of my post. I literally went back through their articles. Before virtual signiling became commonplace in our culture, there are very few POC anywhere on their site. I went through it before my post.

[Jealoushe]

@Horsegirl's Mom

That is very insightful.

I acknowledge the point that the meanings and connotations of words can change over time, but I think hyper-woke people fail to realize how jarring it is to people to be told that a word in common and acceptable usage for their entire lifetimes is suddenly wrong and racist. Did you know that the state of Rhode Island was officially known as “The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” until 2 months ago?? That’s when the state government stopped using the second part of the name. It’s on the ballot this November for the voters to decide whether the name should officially be changed. “Plimoth Plantation” still goes by that name, but apparently is planning a name change for next year.

The point is, this is a very, very new concern when it comes to old-fashioned uses of the term (in the North no less) that have nothing to do with slavery. Maybe there will come to be a consensus that we should eliminate the word everywhere it appears even when it has nothing to do with slavery. (Kind of like you’re not supposed to say “niggardly” anymore even though it has nothing to do with race). But we’re not there yet. A lot of ordinary middle-aged folks who aren’t in academic settings probably don’t even know this has become an issue. Even if ultimately it’s decided the name should be changed (which I still think is illogical in this case), the situation called for a gradual process, not a bulldozer.

It’s called growth, sweetie.

Firstly, the bolded reminds me of how I grew up constantly saying “gay”, not as an insult but as a term that was used by teens around the world. “Retard” was another one. Do you know how hard it is to train yourself not to use words you grew up throwing around like it was nothing? Never once did I use them in an insulting way, it was always a joke. But guess what, times change and I had to grow and be conscious not to use this hurtful language anymore. Was it hard, yes? Was it painful? No. Was it the right thing to do? YEP.

Secondly, WOW. Imagine what it is like for a POC to see there is a horse show named “Plantation”. So boo whoo to us who have to learn that actually YES, some words ARE hurtful and should be changed. The ignorance in this post is kind of astounding.

The reason this is coming up now is because for the first time EVER POC and non POC finally are starting to have some sort of voice against racism. Clearly still not enough but they feel comfortable tackling these issues. This whole reaction is exactly WHY it has been buried for centuries.

And yes, Plantation does have everything to do with slavery. I have been asking every person I see today and every single person says - “reminds me slaves”. Who do you think worked those Plantation fields?

Have you read any of the attached media or just going off over the gossip you heard?

[Jealoushe]

@LockeMeadows

EN sure hides it if they do employee POC. I will change my post to say EN says they have POC on their staff, but their website only shows that they utilize white women for their business. I am going off the information posted on EN’s webpage at the time of my post. I literally went back through their articles. Before virtual signiling became commonplace in our culture, there are very few POC anywhere on their site. I went through it before my post.

They don’t list all of their employees on their site. They comment replied to many people about this yesterday on their FB page. Maybe email them and ask next time before jumping to conclusions.

[cutter99]

@MustangSavvy

Systemic racism permeates every aspect of our society today. What you are seeing is a reckoning of four hundred years of systemic racism that has never been legitimately addressed. You walk into cities and see statues of people who fought to keep people enslaved, etc. It is abysmal and WAY past time for change.

But here’s the thing, there are no statues honoring Hitler or any Nazis for that matter. Germany has addressed the horrors of the past. It is simply not comparable.

There are no monuments to slavery at Plantation Field.

[Jealoushe]

@cutter99

There are no monuments to slavery at Plantation Field.

The name is pretty much the monument to that time.

[poltroon]

@Manahmanah

They said themselves nobody had contacted them.

From the article:

We have heard from BIPOC equestrians that the name is problematic for them. One was asked to groom there by a friend and agreed to go, resigned to the fact that “horse people just don’t understand” why the word plantation does not conjure up a peaceful, pleasant scene.

Likewise, in the history of the event, not one person has offered feedback to the area Ii chair that the name was problematic.

It seems to me that that is exactly what they started, in June, providing some of that feedback.

I only know Glaccum from his writings. I’m curious, from those who know him better, and who think the issue is that EN mishandled it: what approach would you take to him that you feel would have been persuasive, assuming you were starting from a blank slate?