This is yet another example of a smarty smarty-pants wanting to show off their mastery of Civil War Trivia and get a big fuss raised over something silly.
I’ve know people who were named some rather unfortunate names. But I don’t think America has to retire a name just because it was the same as the pet dog of the uncle of the girlfriend’s first cousin who did something awful a hundred years ago.
I have to say that I’m impressed that people know the name of Lee’s horse!
Anyway, I think people have a right to state that their school’s mascot needs to change, or, in this case, that the mascot’s name needs to be changed. (I don’t think they’re actually trying to get rid of the horse itself, right?).
Traveller, Lee’s horse, was turned into an icon of the “Old South” in the decades of Jim Crow. The fact that a lot of football players are African American might be a contributing factor to their sensitivity to racially charged issues like Jim Crow and slavery. We should all be willing to take cognizance of that; as a country we are not far removed from Jim Crow.
I volunteered as a community mediator. I had one case where one neighbour objected to his other neighbour’s dog barking. The dog’s name was Stalin - which we all thought he had given to make his dog sound more intimidating. However, he had grown up in a communist country where Stalin was a hero. There was a portrait of Stalin in his living room. When he was about 5 his house was bombed and he hid under furniture staring at Stalin’s portrait to give himself courage.
“But the name isn’t that common. According to Equibase, a leading source of horse racing statistics, there have been only three registered thoroughbreds named Traveler in the U.S. since 1945. Only two quarter horses have been registered with the name. Another site, which tracks pet names, doesn’t rank Traveler in the top 100 most popular names for horses.”
Well, it isn’t an uncommon name, either. I have personally ridden two in my years, as well as a Sojourner. And if you look up both Traveler and Traveller on Equibaseand include TBs, given naming rules, there really are a few. I checked “James”, just as a random name to compare, and there are only two TBs, and one QH. It might not be on the top hundred names, but think about female human names, which I would argue tend to pull from a much smaller pool. Female names NOT in the top 100: Dawn, Tracey, Tiffany, Cindy, Grace, Kim, just to name a quick few. I would still call all of those common female names.
Just arguing with logic in that paragraph, I stay away from discussing the politics.
Cleopatra VII Philopater.
At least the girls had a choice (Arsinoe, Berenice, or Cleopatra.) If you were a Ptolemy guy, you were Ptolemy.
And I used to put apples and pennies on the real Traveller’s grave for help on exams. (As far as calculus goes…didn’t help.)
:eek::eek::eek: - I get the MAS*H reference, but, yikes!
We had a neighbor with a big, black dog named “Porch Monkey” - I thought that was bad enough, but no one was announcing his name over the loudspeaker.
I have a Pyr/Maremma cross named Isis, also after th goddess (most of my dogs have mythology names). But, because she’s a flock guardian she never leaves the property, so nobody has given me any crap about it.
I knew someone with several inappropriately named black labs, including Spook, Junebug, and Tar Baby. So incredibly cringeworthy.
Thank you, I always have trouble with the second names, but can tell you things about them.
Do you think the school might go with a 17h old style Saddlebred and name him Cincinnati? Or would there be “old south” folks protesting THAT?
Sorry about the calculus. I’d always heard that Traveller “Lee’s horse”, in the manner that Lee was the only person who could manage him. Not sure how true that is.
What’s wrong with Spook or Junebug?
How is a patriot inappropriate for a high school mascot? I think you have literally the least offensive mascot possible.
You’re offended that your children are being reminded of their town’s history? Why teach them about the civil war, or the revolutionary war or the Louisiana Purchase? Those were all so long ago. Let’s not even bother, right?
In all seriousness, in HS and college I had a horse named Spooky. He apparently didn’t really have a name at the shedrow, they referred to him as the spooky horse and it kind of stuck when we got him. A few times I got some flack for the name with people suggesting it was racist (it is apparently a term used for POC). I never forgot about that, but didn’t change his name either. I really could not envision him with a different name even though he didn’t quite live up to being a spooky/looky horse.
Spook and Junebug are both derogatory terms for African Americans. I had the “pleasure” (note sarcastic air quotes) of hearing them used while visiting relatives in Mississippi.
I’ve never heard of that, I’m sure I’ve known some cats called spook or spooky, and I think a pony called junebug? Seriously you can’t expect everyone to know every slang term out there.
This is getting so out of control. I agree with the quote in the article. Things are at the level of hysteria, and a lot of people need to stop looking for trouble where there is none.
I somehow think that would fly about as well as getting a black horse and naming it Winchester.
I don’t know that Traveller was a full-on nut, but he was apparently attached to Lee, and Lee preferred him as a mount to his other horse who came to Lexington with him, Lucy. And I can only imagine the tantrums if Lee hadn’t changed his name–apparently when he acquired the horse he was called “Jeff Davis.”
A rational person would agree with you; sadly, many on the rampage to remove things they consider offensive don’t always show rationality.
Welcome to 21st Century America!!! 
G.
Getting upset over the name Traveler is taking things too far, IMHO.
Now the two black Angus steers I saw at a fair last year that were named “Jigaboo” and “Tar Baby”, those were names to be upset and offended by!
That is terrible. :no:
Yes, the first time I heard it was when I went to a showjumping rally. I was presenting for turnback and the judge informed me that my mount’s name was inappropriate, he was a bay and she may have drawn her own conclusion. Anyway it was not the last time I heard it. I always felt strange introducing him to new people but most people got a kick out of his name for the other reason - simply that it was funny that someone would name a horse after a trait they most definitely do not want in a horse.
I completely understand the movement towards trying to enlighten people on things they do that may or may not be racist, sexist, bigoted, etc. I think some get carried away, but there is a time and a place to school someone on something that they do casually that is offensive or wrong.
On the subject of the article, one ought to point out to the person that wrote it that they’re wrong in thinking ‘Traveler/Traveller’ is not a common name among horses. I think it is more common in western circles but I’ve met four or five Missouri Fox Trotters and other gaited breeds named Traveller, quite a few QHs and one TB… It’s a pretty common name, I’d say I’ve come across it as commonly as Duke, Danny and Ranger.
I have a friend with a chestnut horse named Spook, because he is spooky!
i am from South Carolina and The Junebug thing is new to me, also to my Aunt June who has been called Junebug all her life!
She is a blue eyed blonde ( now grey!)
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