There
was a report recently that the Chief Diversity Officer in the State
Department, a Mr. John Robinson (who apparently doesn't have enough real
work to occupy himself) warned his colleagues that a large number of
common idioms, such as "hold down the fort" and "rule of thumb"
described racist attitudes. Since Mr. Robinson also serves as the
director of the Office of Civil Rights in the very same State Department, his interest in the subject and his viewpoint might be understandable.
Now, while in very narrow, factual terms this individual might be correct, he would only be correct if you went back in history and delved into the original meaning of these phrases.
For example, "hold down the fort" was apparently a reference to maintaining a careful security vigil in outposts on the Western frontier of America to guard against attacks by any of the Indian tribes who took understandable exception to whites moving into the neighborhood.
Apparently Native American shamans had the gift of prophecy and could see the approach of endless strings of strip malls, intermingled with an equally endless number of Starbucks, populated by hordes of teenagers who would demand that they be treated as adults while not yet being able to figure out how to pull their pants up. Very gifted shamans, indeed, and given what they saw coming, showed no anti-white racial bias at all.
But I digress.
It is interesting to note that this individual delved into the historical context of these phrases, their evolution and their original meaning to tell us all that we were a bunch of damned racists.
Now, while in very narrow, factual terms this individual might be correct, he would only be correct if you went back in history and delved into the original meaning of these phrases.
For example, "hold down the fort" was apparently a reference to maintaining a careful security vigil in outposts on the Western frontier of America to guard against attacks by any of the Indian tribes who took understandable exception to whites moving into the neighborhood.
Apparently Native American shamans had the gift of prophecy and could see the approach of endless strings of strip malls, intermingled with an equally endless number of Starbucks, populated by hordes of teenagers who would demand that they be treated as adults while not yet being able to figure out how to pull their pants up. Very gifted shamans, indeed, and given what they saw coming, showed no anti-white racial bias at all.
But I digress.
It is interesting to note that this individual delved into the historical context of these phrases, their evolution and their original meaning to tell us all that we were a bunch of damned racists.
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