[ExI] how long will this go on?

[SR Ballard]

I mean, I understand the impetus for these reactions, but my thinking is more: who really considers these to be racist idols? 

Robert E Lee is one thing. Everyone ties him instantly with the Civil War and Slavery. Columbus is emblematic of the enslavement and abuse of native people. 

But I had never heard of this “Horton Smith” guy until I read this email, and basically no one except a golf fanboy will have. So what good does it do to remove his name from something?

A better example of obscure people who I think might be “villifiable” would be “the father of modern Gynecology”, Mr. Sims. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Marion_Sims

SR Ballard

> On Jul 11, 2020, at 8:47 AM, William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
> 
> A man named Horton Smith has had his name taken off a golf trophy because he agreed with the 'no Blacks' provision in professional golf - he was the president of the PGA.  1950s.
> 
> Consider this:  suppose he had not agreed?  Suppose that he wanted Blacks on the tour?  Do you think he would have kept his position as president?  Hah!  People were not ready for that by a long shot.
> 
> So he is being vilified for thinking the way everyone else did.  His only 'sin' is that he was president, I suppose.  Should we now disparage all the golfers, like Arnold Palmer, who were members at the time?
> 
> How far will this go?  How long?  Billions of people were racist back then.  
> 
> Billions of people are racist now.  How far will taking names off of trophies get us?
> 
> bill w
> 
> 
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