Posts Tagged ‘upper marlboro’
More on Why Words Matter: The Examiner Says D.C. Suburbs Are Becoming “Ghettos”
Since it's been established here, here, and here that terminology matters, it seems worth pointing out the screaming language on the front page of the Washington Examiner yesterday: "Suburban dreams turn into ghettoes." The headline inside the paper said: "Foreclosure crisis creating suburban slums."
The story by Bill Myers and David Sherfinski began:
Two years of economic collapse have pockmarked the D.C. region's affluent suburbs with blight, and experts are worried that the foundering cul-de-sacs and towns are on the verge of becoming the region's next ghettoes.
Here's another term - "ghetto" - that gets thrown around far too much, and too casually, in talking about urban (and, in this case, suburban) problems.
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How Soon Is Too Soon?
The Washington Post just posted an article announcing that an elementary school in Upper Marlboro, MD might be named after Barack Obama, if the proposal is accepted at a vote tomorrow night. The article goes on to mention that schools named after sitting presidents are not uncommon in this country, citing the examples of George W. Bush Elementary, opened in 2003 in California, and Richard Nixon Elementary, which welcomed Iowa students in 1970. Leaving aside the fact that these other schools were named after possibly the two worst presidents in history, isn't it a little soon for schools to be named after Obama? He was only inaugurated 155 days ago, while the other presidents had been in office for at least a year before they got a school named after them.
We do need to find more names for public buildings, especially in this city. It gets confusing when you have to differentiate between which Reagan building to meet someone at, or use first names when figuring out which Kennedy goes with which arena/school/office. But Obama's legacy is yet to be determined. He's the first black president, which of course gives him precedence, but maybe the citizens should hold off for a few months. Just to save the students from any possible embarrassment.
