University of Colorado accused of being “culturally chauvinist” for naming dorms in English

    According to this article, the University of Colorado is drawing some heat for deciding to change the name of two dorms in honor of Native American Chiefs.

  And no, this heat is not coming from angry, racist Tea Party types but rather from the left. They are upset that the university has decided to use the English translation rather than the Native American translation of the two names.

  Here is more:

CU spokesman Ryan Huff told the Daily Camera that university officials changed their minds about using the Arapaho language because the English versions “will be more easily recognized and referenced to by students, visitors and emergency responders.”

Indeed, Nowoo3 is pronounced “Na-waath” and Houusoo is pronounced “Ho-sah,” according to the paper.

The decision has upset some at the university who believe falling back on the English versions sends the message that CU is not only culturally insensitive, but also that its students are too lazy to learn the proper words.

If we decide not to use the Hinono’ei [Arapaho] names because that’s ‘too hard,’ then we capitulate to the image of CU as possessing lax academic standards, and, by association, less competitive students,”

  Wait a minute! I thought that the term ‘lazy’ was a dog whistle for racist people on the right. That is basically what both Van Jones and Colin Powell said when the term was used to describe Barack Obama, is it not?

  The left is really sending a mixed message here but I continue with the story at hand:

She added that “Niwot” is also a mispronunciation of Nowoo3. When the matter was first being debated in November, about 20 faculty members signed a letter saying that using Niwot instead of Nowoo3 would be “culturally chauvinist and clearly primitivizing in a Native American context,’” according to the Camera.

  So now the school is being “culturally chauvinist” but who can blame them for this decision? After all, who can forget these stories:

  When Dartmouth University wanted to hold a Mexican themed fundraiser it was called racist and was cancelled because it was deemed  “exploitative” and “inappropriate.”

  When a fraternity at the University of California wanted to have a  Pacific Island themed event it was called racist because they would be wearing the garb of Pacific Islanders–namely coconut bras and grass skirts.

  In both of these instances no offense was intended and one could argue they would have actually been celebrating diversity by embracing different cultures by dressing in the clothes and eating the food of those cultures, but in this case the reverse seems to be occurring–it is now  “culturally chauvinist” not to follow in the customs of the people the universities are trying to honor.

  Or am I just missing something here?