New in PJ Media:
Identity politics is a tough business: you can’t take a step these days without offending someone, and that applies even to the Leftists who have appointed themselves the guardians of acceptable opinion. The Hanover County Public School district in Virginia on Wednesday apologized for the logo of their Unified Professional Learning Conference, which was supposed to be all about promoting “equity,” that is, the Left’s privileging of its favored groups. Instead, the logo strongly resembles the official emblem of Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist (Nazi) Party. Jewish organizations have protested, and aghast district officials have hastily withdrawn the logo and apologized. They have the usual Leftist blind spots, and those blind spots are showing.
This entire incident is full of unseen hazards. The conference’s logo called to mind the hooked cross, which most people in the U.S. refer to as the “swastika,” but that usage, in turn, offends Hindus and Buddhists, for whom the swastika has been a sacred symbol for many centuries before Hitler was born. When Hanover County Public School Superintendent Michael Gill apologized Wednesday, he called the Nazi emblem a “swastika,” apparently not realizing that in doing so he was offending yet another group:
One of our teachers, designed the logo intending for it to represent four hands and arms grasping together – a symbol of unity for our all-county professional learning conference. Nothing more. While we are confident that the logo was created without any ill-intent, we understand that this has deeply upset members of our staff and community who see the logo as resembling a swastika. We have stopped distributing the t-shirts that include the logo, and we are working to remove it from all conference materials. We are deeply sorry for this mistake and for the emotions that the logo has evoked by its semblance to a swastika and, by extension, to the atrocities that were committed under its banner. Unquestionably, we condemn anything associated with the Nazi regime in the strongest manner possible.
Unquestionably? Not quite. Gill’s condemnation didn’t satisfy anyone. Among the unmollified was Rachel Levy, a far-Left candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates with children in the Hanover County Public Schools, who tweeted: “Note that Superintendent Mike Gill blames a teacher. Unacceptable. And typical–what I mean when I say we have unaccountable leadership. NOTHING like that logo goes out or gets approved without his or his PR guy Chris Whitley’s say so.”
Levy was sure that this was all because of right-wing encroachment in once-beautiful blue Virginia: “And someone *just* sent me this pic of a Youngkin yard sign in a classroom at Hanover High School where the PD sessions took place, where the the [sic] new logo was sited [sic].”
There is more. Read the rest here.
Namer says
I think the symbol was supposed to look like a stylized nazi swastika and it was going to be the groups little inside joke. Remember Lefists/liberals are just to the left of Communists just like the Nazis are.
Infidel says
That thing does not look like a Hakenkreuz – and I refuse to use the term ‘Swastika’ to refer to it. Swastika is one of these 4 symbols – 卐 卍 ࿗ ࿘
Rarely says
Ya, right. It only looks like a swastika — a lot like a swastika.
Asura says
Yeah, cant be called Hakenkreuz even though nazis called it as such. Blaming it on unrelated brown people is easy.
Rarely says
OK. Split hairs. It looks an awful like the Nazi symbol. That better?
Rarely says
BTW. Who gives a rat’s azz what the Nazis called it?
Infidel says
Churchill used to call it the ‘crooked cross’. Why not then call it that, if German is suddenly a lot farther from English than Sanskrit?
Infidel says
Right, b’cos a 45 degree rotation, among other differences, is irrelevant
mgoldberg says
I don’t care if it ‘looks’ like a swastika. I care if I drill down into the beliefs, practices and goals of the group mimic good thinking, or the other kind…. that is what I’m looking for.
Appearances are and can be deceiving. That’s what debate, reason, rhetoric, and a strong sense of thinking is better made of. It used to be so, now… it’s only correct thinking that is supported. The ‘thinking’ of the group behind the logo is what needs to be explored, defined and explained….. for the good of our public and fellow citizens.
somehistory says
+10
Asura says
It seems western people cant stop calling Hakenkreuz a swastika. Even though that symbol has many European names since ancient times. It is just a name game to connect it to unrelated people in asia.
Infidel says
And the name ‘swastika’ is so much more English than ‘hakenkreuz’
Rarely says
Asura.
No one is blaming “unrelated people in asia” for Naziism. The term “swastika” has been used universally to mean the Nazi symbol and is not referencing eastern religions in any way.
Infidel says
That’s a pure exercise in sophistry, given that the word is Sanskrit, and very explicitly refers to religious symbols of Hinduism and Buddhism. As a result of such an association, when Hindus use it in their ceremonies, they are looked at as Nazis. In fact, the current Hinduophobic climate worldwide is pretty much a result of this, and fueled further by both Leftists and muslims
As a member of another faith targeted by these 2 groups, you should know better!
somehistory says
So many things to get upset about these days and every day, there is yet another.
However, new video from a Florida State park shows a harmless manatee swimming along with an alligator…which could easily have the manatee for lunch. Would the manatee rather be called a sea cow? Some people call them that.
I hope my comment does not offend. Practically anything anyone says, writes, or illustrates will offend someone, but my comment is not meant to do that, so I apologize in advance.
If the ‘teacher’ had used three hands and arms, that might have been unacceptable to some, two and that would have been close to another logo seen sometimes…five, six or eight arms and hands…those also might have offended.
Just put a few words in a circle and be done with it….or a twisted maze. Even then, who knows?
Hoi Polloi says
Your good heart is always clear in your comments.
Who sees that as four hands, anyway? Can’t do actual hands as then criticism would mount as to the balance of the races of owners of the hand. Who doesn’t see the symbol there? Who takes responsibility? Who answers as to why anyone needs another Tshirt in this current all about the environment educational mode?
RS is right. They’ve trapped themselves.
somehistory says
Hoi Polloi
Thank you so much. that’s very kind of you.
I just saw a bunch of lines…not very attractive to the eye, for me. I was in 4H…heart, hands, head and health. Maybe they could borrow the 4H logo and give credit.
it is impossible to please everyone, even some of the time. And I agree…they have entrapped themselves and there is no easy way out. Just look at the person complaining…it wasn’t us…but she’s blaming the “right”…much dissension among their ranks.
Hoi Polloi says
+Heart.
The stretching to blame everything on some far right something is endless.
somehistory says
Yes, One would think someday that they would get tired of that. we get tired of it 🙂