Politically Correct Peak
Fri April 18th, 2003 00:20 MSTToday was a sad day in central Arizona. One thousand people turned out for the funeral of Lance Cpl. Mike Williams, a Marine killed in Iraq. On 9/11/1991, Mr. Williams owned a small business. After the events of that day, Mr. Williams decided to help his country any way he could. Consequently, he sold his business and joined the Marines. Almost two years of difficult training and fighting later, Mike was killed in a firefight in Iraq while defending his country.
Mike was honored by a crowd of 1000 and was buried in Phoenix’s National Cemetary.
Five other Arizona servicepeople have been killed in Iraq.
READ ON
This is a sad day for another reason: The tragedy of war has been hijacked by the Leftist Vultures of Political Correctness, forcing a name change for our historic Squaw Peak. It has suddenly been renamed to honor one of the dead, purely for reasons of race and gender. The PC Brownshirts have long wanted to change the name, having decided that “Squaw” was a demeaning term.
Today, they have taken advantage of the emotions of the death of a soldier to push the name change, bypassing all procedures (including a requirement that a person be dead for 5 years before such a naming). Our multiculturalist governor threatened with summary firing the head of the State Board of Names.
There are many one could name the peak after, all of whom are dishonored by today’s naming. Barry Goldwater Peak is a candidate, after the famous conservative, photographer and friend of the Navajo. Barry lived nearby, and his name adorns no geographic feature.
It could have been named after Ira Hayes, the most famous Arizona World War II Hero, who also happens to have been a Native American (Pima).
It could have been named after one or all of the Navajo Codetalkers.
It could have been named after just-dead Mike Williams.
Heck… the name could have been left alone.
Instead, they chose an unlikely hero, Lori Piestewa. Yes, she was killed by the Iraqis, even though she was not a combat soldier. But she was also single mother, hardly a role model for the tribes so wracked by disintegrating families. Finally, her name is four syllable, replacing the one syllable”Squaw.”
Lori gave her life and must be honored, but over all the others? Only the considerations of political correctness, coupled with the opportunity of the moment have put her name on Squaw Peak.
Because this person was a Native American woman, she is being honored far beyond others who died in Iraq. Because she was a female soldier, she is being honored beyond the Arizona Navajo code talkers of World War II. She is being honored more than Ira Hayes, a native American Arizonan war World War II hero and winner of the Medal of Honor.
In other words, this person is being honored by having her name forever (until P.C. fashion changes) branded on a mountain peak in Phoenix, Arizona, 250 miles from her home. This little bit of magic is pure PC…. in one fell swoop it:
- Removes an un-PC name: Squaw Peak
- Honors a female combatant - long a PC goal
- Honors a Native American
- Honors a single mother military member - another feminist goal.
I am feeling truly sad today. Lori Piestewa’s children are motherless. Lance Corporal Williams is buried. Many others have died.
And amidst all this, the Political Correct Vultures are taking advantage of all of this tragedy! For that, I am not only sad (for the dishonor it does us all) but angry! Angry that only someone who meets all the political correct critera deserves her name on a mountain! Angry that a historic landmark was renamed, at a loss to history. Angry that this young women’s name is going to be mispronounced through history as piss-ta-wa! Angry that this politically correct coup was so important that the 5 year legislated delay on place names changes was overridden!
But happy that there are a whole bunch of remaining Squaw Peaks in Arizona…. go to it, Vultures!
saddened … yes but more appropriately,SICKENED
if this “woman” will stoop to bending the law for such a feeble ploy as the Squaw Peak fiasco,
i believe our state is in for trouble.
if my business is named S.P. (can’t put it in print it may be too offensive to read :),should i be responsible for the costs incurred or will janet come up with some funding from the already depleted budget for just one of the myriad of scenarios brought on by her egocentric plans
John,
I guess it was inevitable that you and I would eventually disagree about someting. You know that I’m not at all motivated by PC sensibilities, and I first proposed and strongly support the name change. Rather than burden your comment section with my arguments, I’ll just provide links to a couple of my posts on the subject.
I’ll add one more thought - it matters significantly and historically that she was the first American-Indian female soldier to die in combat. History books honor the Tuskegee Airmen and the Japanese-American Nisei soldiers because of their willingness to fight for American liberty. Part of American tradition is to forge our national unity through stories of shared sacrifice for freedom despite our shortcomings. Pfc. Piestewa fits that tradition perfectly. Conservatives should want to honor her for that sacrifice. We continue to honor Crispus Attucks as the first casualty in the Revolutionary War. Was he too just a victim that was slaughtered by British forces? Saying that Pfc. Piestewa is nothing more than a “victim” is disingenuous. Regardless of where they are in theater, all of our forces face a tremendous risk of death.
Ninety-nine percent of the time, we are on the same side. I hope that you don’t hold this issue against me.
“Edward”
Edward,
I was going to respond to your blog but comments appear to be turned off. I actually saw your original suggestion, initially liked it (it felt warm and fuzzy) and then formed a contrary opinion. The subsequent actions of the governor have hardened my position, as you will see below.
My first objection applies a conservative principle to only change that which needs to be changed. How much of Arizona history is tied to Squaw Peak and how much of that now becomes? 30 years of my past has been robbed!
My second and primary objection is the Political Correctness of it all. Keep in mind that the entire multiculturalist crowd has been trying to change the name for years. What just happened wasn’t the honoring of a soldier (a profession most of those people detest), but the hijacking of a tragedy.
This event simply helped achieve the goal of a large multiculturalist movement to purge the word “Squaw” from American discourse and place names. They want to flush it down the memory hole. They have been taught that it is offensive, even though it only has meaning (woman) in one Indian language (Algonquin).
I consider the multiculturalist crowd to be an active danger to our society. When they win one, I take it very seriously! They threaten our national unity, our identity, our security and our domestic tranquility. They are misguided fools and dangerous zealots.
Third, while it matters that she was the first Native American female to die in combat, it is not in my mind a death to be honored. Her life and service is to be honored, but her death was just a tragedy. And, it was a wrong tragedy. I don’t think that mothers should die in combat.
Soldiers are not normally honored for being victims, they are honored for valor in combat (although the modern leftist nanny crowd prefers victims). Some on the left bring up John McCain as a counter-example, forgetting that he was captured (made a victim) while in combat, and he fought his captors for years under horrible conditions.
Regarding naming the peak after someone else… it is named after her for her gender and her ethnicity. I find that offensive. I find it racially divisive. I am for America where we are all Americans, not Hopis or Irish or members of the (I can’t remember the name of it) tribe my wife is descended from. I object to the naming based on ethnicity and gender, and no matter how one describes it, the truth is that the motive iof the actual malefactors in this case was multicultural.
As far as the examples you name in your comment, they are not geographic names, they are historical facts mentioned in books. People like to remember firsts, which is very different from renaming unrelated mountain peaks after them.
Personally, I think that Tuba City should name something after Lori Piestawa. Perhaps a park or a bridge or a street. That is how it is normally done. She is from Tuba City, honor her there. In Phoenix she becomes a political token in the wars of multiculturalism.
As far as risk of death, I agree that all soldiers sign up for risk of death. I did, and I lost friends who were doing the same thing I did every day (fly in a P-3 Orion combat aircraft). I even lost a my boyhood best friend doing what President Bush did (flying a fighter in the national guard). But my friends don’t have peaks named after them. They are just as dead, but they were not fighting at the time; nor were they female or Native American or whatever.
And finally, there is a principle of linguistics (and information theory) that says heavily used names should be short. There is a corollary that words that are too long will be shortened and bastardized. Squaw Peak is 2 syllables. Piestewa Peak is 5 syllables. My mind already automatically shortens it to PISS-TEE_WA, as will most native english speakers. This is an honor?
One more quick comment. Edward, you mention the Tuskegee Airmen. One of those, Lincoln Ragsdale, was a neighbor of mine who died a while back. Nobody raised a campaign to change the name of Squaw Peak to Ragsdale Peak!
I guess the Native Americans have more clout than the Blacks in this town.
Argh! How I hate separating people by ethnicity! Ask the Kurds in Iraq how that worked for them.
The following comment may be viewed as racist, it is not, I am only looking at the irony of the situation. Squaw Peak’s name was changed to that of a “squaw”.
I don’t tink it’s racist. Only one tribe (Algonquin) has the word “squaw” in its vocabulary, and it is not a negative word there. All of the other Native Americans seem to have imagined that the word is derogatory, to the point that now they believe it.
It is, as you say, ironic.
MEDIA ADVISORY
April 18, 2002
Contact: James L. Willinger, President, Wide World of Maps
602-433-0616
Arizona’s Premier Map Maker
Weighs In on “Piestewa Peak”
PHOENIX – It’s official, Squaw Peak is now Piestewa Peak. But how official is official? What does this decision by the State Board on Geographic and Historic Names mean to Arizona? Will the change appear on maps any time soon? What about the name change proposed for the Squaw Peak Freeway?
Arizona’s leading commercial mapmaker, Wide World of Maps, will not be changing the peak or freeway name any time soon, states James Willinger, president of Wide World of Maps. “We are not going to jump into making changes that could be overturned.
“The reason for the five-year waiting period is to reach consensus through a cooling off period, a thought process and due consideration of a name change.” He cites the public sentiment against the change and recalls the movement after the death of Barry Goldwater to change the name of Sky Harbor International Airport to honor Goldwater’s memory. That change ultimately did not occur.
“There are 22 summits or mountains, 16 water features and 10 other geographic points on the Arizona map that bear the name ‘Squaw’,” Willinger adds. “Some of them are on Native American land. It is absolutely appropriate to give recognition to Army Pfc. Lori Piestewa and honor her memory. But isn’t it more appropriate to honor her in the area of the state that she called home, rather than several hundred miles away?”
Wide World of Maps Phoenix Mapping Service division publishes street maps for Arizona and produces custom maps for government and business.
Founded in 1975 by Robert Molner and James Willinger, Wide World of Maps is the most complete map store in the Southwest, carrying every U.S.G.S. topographic map for Arizona, along with about a million other maps, books and related items. Wide World of Maps stores are located at 2626 West Indian School Road in Phoenix and 1444 West Southern Avenue in Mesa. Call Wide World of Maps at 602-279-2323 or 800-279-7654, or visit their website at www.maps4u.com.
Oh for gods sake people, PC I mean BS.
Either way, Have any of you asked the American indians why the word “Squaw” is Demeaning.
Your chiming in downing the change, which I agree was rash, BUT the name did need removed, AND I AM NOT EVEN NATIVE… I have alot of friends that are though. There is a wierd line in what offends some and not others, but that Word is VERY demeaning.
What the hell would people say about, Nigger Peak, Red neck Junction, or Kike Road? There would be hundreds if not thousands of people up in Arms about it, but for some reason natives dont get that same respect. WHY IS THAT???
We should know who the real hero is : SPC Patrick
Miller, not Pvt Lynch or Piestawa.
I think it wrong to name Pisstawa Peak after
her. She wrecked her vehicle, nearly killed Pvt.
Lynch.
We know why the naming of the peak is? because
these stupid squaws crying because they not being
treated fair, not equal when they are not being
equal. They should have named her after a casino,
They can call it ” Goldern Pisstawa ”.
STUPID POLITCIAL INCORRECT DYKES!