The following is a letter to the editor, published here as opinion. The opinions expressed in this letter are those of the writer. If you would like to submit a letter to the editor feel free to write to [email protected].
The Northern California town of Fort Bragg is in desperate need of a name change ASAP! Sure, there will be some relatively minor expenses for residents from the municipal name change, but the cost of keeping the town’s current obnoxiously racist name will be far greater.
First of all, no self-respecting Californian could ever possibly justify or countenance any town or city in the Golden State being named after Confederate General Braxton Bragg, who was not only a traitor and a slaveowner, but an especially intemperate and incompetent military commander as well. That name is nothing to brag about, Fort Bragg.
Secondly, why would any patriotic American want to set foot in a town named after an anti-American racist traitor to the republic, like Braxton Bragg? Thankfully, Mendocino County has other equally picturesque communities to visit and spend our money in as tourists.
Too bad, Fort Bragg, but you’re not getting another dime from me until you change your town’s name! Here are some non-Confederate, pro-American options for you. Please feel free to choose any one of these as your town’s new name:
1.) Fort Lincoln
2.) Fort Grant
3.) Fort Sherman
4.) Fort Roosevelt
5.) Fort Eisenhower
6.) Fort Patton
7.) Fort Marshall
8.) Fort Bradley
9.) Fort Kennedy
10.) Fort Powell
Sincerely,
Jake Pickering
Arcata, CA, USA
If you’re referring to Abraham Lincoln , he was no hero either.
I am sure we can survive without you blessing us ,with your presence ever again! Albert Costa
For years I lobbied citizens and officials of Willits that we needed to change the name of our town. Cutting to the chase, I found out that it is no mere administrative adjustment, but COSTS a great deal to change the name of a town. The biggest cost is Post Office Service, here, there, everywhere! So much printed matter and records have to be changed.
Given the hard times ahead, many of us wanted to change the name of Willits to Self Reliance, CA. Resiliency for small rural communities is going to become super important in the years ahead!
Jake, 3 points:
1) There is no fort here so why keep the word fort?
2) Read up on this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_War_of_1862
before suggesting anything be named after Lincoln
3) Fort Bragg is over touristed as it is, we don’t need your money
I am for a name change, but your piece was condescending and obnoxious.
Follow up points:
Do you mean Roosevelt the buffalo soldier or Roosevelt the president who interned Japanese Americans?
I could go on with your list. Maybe read some books before your next opinion piece?
Is this the MendoVoice or the Tourist Voice? I’m disappointed this was published. In town we are acutely aware that people from outside the town and county want us to change our name. We don’t need it told to us in an outlet that is supposed to be by, for, and about local concerns.
Nils Ian Palsson started this petition to County of Lake, California AND I CONCUR…
Andrew Kelsey – namesake of the small town of Kelseyville, CA – was a kidnapper, slave-trader, murderer and rapist, and his men were the perpetrators of such atrocities as the 1850 Bloody Island Massacre, where between 60 and 100 local Pomo human beings were slaughtered summarily. It is a disgrace to have our beautiful town named after this man.
I first moved to Fort Bragg in the 90s, and when I typed our zip code into my browser the town name that appeared was “NOYO”.
The Fort was build to “handle the Indians” and we know what that meant.
How nice to give the town a name from the language of the people who were oppressed instead of honoring a slave-owning general who betrayed our country.
I looked up “Noyo”.
“… the Noyo River in turn was misnamed by white settlers to the Mendocino area after a village of the Pomo people named Noyo several miles north, on Pudding Creek.”
I guess we white people get it wrong coming and going.
Honor the original people and name the town what the original inhabitants called the area. Not the people who conquered and destroyed their lives and culture.
LOL, you realize there would be no Fort Bragg without the “evil” people you condemn, right? There would be no Fort Bragg, no Mendocino County, no California, no America without the Evil White Man™. Oh, and no Bill of Rights or even the concept of individual liberty.
Can a mere name change eliminate the “White Supremacy” of Fort Bragg? No.
Maybe White people should start shrieking about the “cultural appropriation” of all things our kind has given to the world; you know, this here Internet, for example.
After all, “everyone knows” that the so-called “Native Americans” (who did NOT originate here) never conquered their neighbors, never abused them. As the Aztecs would say, “have a heart!”
Let’s be remembered by what we did, not by what we did not do.
All across the country communities are taking a critical look at symbols honoring the confederacy and it’s icons, statues, monuments, the names of streets, parks, schools, cities, towns and villages. The Southern Poverty Law Center list of “Public Symbols of the Confereracy” lists our city as one of six active (not yet removed) symbols of the Confereracy left in California.
The US Military Command is on the verge of changing the name of its Military Base in North Carolina (Ft. Bragg). Will we, the citizens of the other Ft Bragg, have the simple decency to change our name from one that celebrates the violence and treason of a pro slavery Confederate General, to a name that more appropriately represents our values; our spirit of tolerance, diversity and kindness?
As the statues come down and monuments are removed, as the military base in North Carolina is about to have a name change, why don’t we make the change before they do ? It is in our pioneering nature to do so. We became the first Certified Bee City on California, we can become the last city in California to celebrate Slavery in our city’s name. There is no way we can allow ourselves to be proud of our city’s name now, so let’s change it to commemorate the moment and to say to America in a big way, that Black Lives Matter, that we respect the local history of our Native American residents, and of all People of Color in our community. Let’s be on the right side of history and be darn proud of it.
Thanksgiving Coffee Company supports a bold action by our elected City Council to vote to change the name of our beloved city to a name that celebrates the goodness of people, the beauty of our location and the values of our citizenry. What name shall we choose ?
Any name is better then Fort Bragg !
Paul Katzeff
This was a really sweet and touching comment, Paul, and I wholeheartedly agree.
I’m a Fort Bragg resident and business owner, as well, and I love this place for everything that it is and is becoming.
Katzeff:
While people such as yourself advocate the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist position of “correcting” US history by flushing it down Orwell’s Memory Hole, the so-called “State of Israel” is preparing to disenfranchise millions of Palestinians of their land by annexing large sections of the West Bank, flat-out stealing land their forebears lived on for millennia. Surely you can point out your public denunciation of this real outage, right?
Is all this phony “anti-racism” a distraction to such evils? Maybe we should look at another form of “privilege” that is shielded by a certain not-unique (but claimed to be unique) “historical event” other than “White Privilege”? Because it sure seems those who enjoy your privilege are having a hypocritical field day with engineered “outrage” and virtue signaling.
Paul,
We are not celebrating any such thing! It’s ugly what went on, but it’s just as ugly as what is going on today. Changing a name is not going to change history. So where would you start the history Of Fort Bragg are you going to rewrite it? Are you going to pretend we never had a fort here? I remember a long time ago when you first came here, the name didn’t stop you from having a successful business here.
“[T]here will be some relatively minor expenses for residents from the municipal name change, but the cost of keeping the town’s current obnoxiously racist name will be far greater.”
Well, gee, Mister NOT A RESIDENT OF FORT BRAGG, if they’re so “minor,” YOU can pay for them yourself!
I understand the whole “unholy” man behind the name issue, Ft Bragg. I’ll admit you would think they could have picked a better name. I even like some of the native options. So, here’s a compromise. Lets change the name, but those who want it so bad must pay for it. Just fork over the millions it will cost the city, county, state and local businesses and then we can move on to more important topics. Its like I tell my kids, if you want something that bad, pay for it yourself, I can think of much more valuable things to pay for with our limited government money.
Change name back to NATIVE AMERICAN name..
What was it called before the WHITE DEVILS came!!
To ALL you people, that are not born and raised here. This is MY home, leave it the hell alone. I am so sick of you people saying; how the name should be changed. Honestly you have brought it up and keep dragging it out. Changing the name doesn’t change history. Our generation had nothing to do with that. The name Fort Bragg, should not be changed because history offends you, a lot of history is offending, and as we learn from history there was a lot of bad and good. Thankfully I did not live through those times. NO, I do not condone what was done. I never knew all this stuff until you all started going,on and on. If it gives you such grief ; leave; or don’t come here. I’m pretty sure, if you people would live in today’s world, and put this much energy into, stopping child trafficking, or sexual abuse, these are things; that are happening right now.
Lucy who is a Pomo native said this Its the people not the name that make the town. Her ancestors were taken away by solder’s. But when they would escape and come home the people of the town FB hide them to keep them safe. She does not feel a need of change, thank you Lucy I have so much respect for your wisdom. I loved that you shared some of your
family history. That’s my feelings on all you. Wonder how many of you have looked all the way back in your own families history; maybe you should change your names.