Offensive Mount Rushmore Should Be Cancelled?

Do you ever feel like the Grievance Grifters have one con and they are going to play that game until we all give in? Grift, Rinse, Repeat ad Nauseum. This is my third article for Victory Girls regarding Mount Rushmore, and the second one I have written about the monument being cancelled. This time noted historian and sociologist Jalen Rose of ESPN wants Mount Rushmore cancelled because it is offensive. Oh wait, there is more.

I don’t believe I have ever watched ESPN and I had never heard of Jalen Rose, but apparently he played basketball and now analyzes sports. Mr. Rose issued his request about Mount Rushmore on the popular scholarly website, Twitter:

Here’s why using Mount Rushmore to define greatness should be retired immediately. pic.twitter.com/mtYYTtKFSa

— Jalen Rose (@JalenRose) August 3, 2022

Okay, Gen Xer. From Fox News here is part of the transcript:

“Can we retire using ‘Mount Rushmore?’ That should be offensive to all of us, especially Native Americans, Indigenous people who were the first people here before Christopher Columbus,” Rose said in a video he tweeted. “That land was stolen from them when it was discovered that it contained gold.

“And 25 years later, to add insult to injury, four American presidents were put on what we call Mount Rushmore on the top of the dead bodies that is buried right underneath. So, I call for you and for myself — I’m owning this, too — let’s stop using the term ‘Mount Rushmore’ when we’re talking about our favorite rappers, talking about our favorite movies, talking about our favorite players.”

I haven’t really heard about using Mount Rushmore when talking about favorites, but whateves. What I find offensive and what I am passionate about is the use of the words “stolen lands”. As I wrote in my first post about Mount Rushmore, these lands were not stolen. These lands were conquered. That’s a very important distinction.

As a woman of Scots-Irish ancestry, I am aware the Scotland has been invaded many times, beginning with the Romans in 80 A.D., and Ireland has been conquered nine times. I’ll have no truck with any of the invaders or conquerers because that is the way of the world. Conquering lands was/is still a way to gain wealth and power.

Speaking of conquering lands, the Lakota Sioux who have the Pine Ridge Reservation by Mount Rushmore, and Jalen Rose, might want to read a little history from the Black Hills Visitor:

In 1680 the Lakota (‘tiyospaye’ – extended family) were living further west, on the upper Mississippi in central Minnesota. But the continuing wars between the eastern tribes over the fur trade had driven the Chippewa westward to this area as well. The Chippewas were well-armed by the French, and gradually forced the Oceti Sakowin westward, out of their forest-and-lake range, and onto the Great Plains west of the Mississippi.

By 1750, the Lakota, mostly the Oglala and Brule bands, had moved to the southeastern area of present-day South Dakota, near the Missouri River. Here they encountered the Arikara, and attacked and pushed them out of the area. During the late 1700s to early 1800s, the Lakota came to control the lands in the Black Hills and on the northern plains by the eviction of the Cheyenne and the Crow tribes; areas that would later become western South Dakota, eastern Montana, northern Wyoming and northern Nebraska.

“Push out” “evict” and “controlled” are just polite ways of saying “conquered” and “vanquished”. Don’t be fooled.

More from Fox News about Jalen Rose’s comments:

“Why do you think Washington changed their name from Redskins? I do a show and didn’t say that word for eight years,” he said. “Because it’s offensive. What about the Cleveland Indians? Same thing. Why did they change the name? Because it’s offensive.”

This isn’t quite as offensive as saying “stolen lands”, but we don’t name sports teams after groups we don’t admire. Dinesh D’Souzam made that point in this video about the Washington “Redskins” name change. D’Souza graduated from Dartmouth, which formerly had the “Indians” as their mascot.

Yep, a group of Liberal White kids decided the name was “offensive”. Maybe, instead of spending time on CRT and neo-pronouns, the schools could teach world history again. Every culture has been conquered and every group has been slavers and enslaved. We try to do better with each succeeding generation. Except this current one, which will be more ignorant and confused than Jalen Rose and that is offensive.

Thank you, bye.

Featured Image: Craig Bennett/Flickr.com/cropped/

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