Berkeley to Vote to Rename Jefferson Elementary

The Peoples Republic of Berkeley will soon vote on whether to rename the Thomas Jefferson Elementary School to something less...offensive. Because Jefferson owned slaves, some black members of the community have suggested the school change its name.

Contenders for the new name included Ralph Bunche, the African American diplomat at the United Nations who was the first person of color to win the Nobel Peace Prize; farmworker organizer Cesar Chavez; and Florence McDonald, the late Berkeley city councilwoman, leftist political leader and mother of singer Country Joe McDonald.

Other names suggested were Sojourner Truth, a woman who fled slavery in New York in 1828 and became one of the best-known abolitionist orators; Ohlone -- for the indigenous people who lived in Berkeley before European settlers arrived; Peace; Rose; and Sequoia.

The article points out that Jefferson Elementary is not the first to go through a name change. In 1999, Columbus Elementary School was rebuilt and renamed Rosa Parks Elementary School - but only after debate about whether Cesar Chavez was better. James Garfield Middle School was renamed after Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 and Abraham Lincoln Elementary School was renamed for Malcolm X in the 1970s.

As California Patriot says, "Obviously our past presidents are a no go in this day and age. I mean Abraham Lincoln, what’d he ever do to help out African Americans?"

Punditguy asks, "Do the same 'offended' individuals refuse to carry a $2 dollar bill in their wallet? Would they purposefully drive a longer route if their trip pointed them toward Jefferson County, Missouri? Have they stopped watching reruns of The Jefferson's on television?" Weezy would surely be disappointed...