{"id":167678,"date":"2021-02-24T09:43:36","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T14:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=167678"},"modified":"2021-02-24T09:59:10","modified_gmt":"2021-02-24T14:59:10","slug":"ben-franklins-name-scrubbed-from-tacoma-city-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ben-franklins-name-scrubbed-from-tacoma-city-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Franklin\u2019s Name Scrubbed From Tacoma City Park"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fben-franklins-name-scrubbed-from-tacoma-city-park%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=167678&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-95469313.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>The Metro Parks Tacoma Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to boot Ben Franklin from a public park in central Tacoma, replacing him with Rosa Franklin, Washington state\u2019s first African American state senator.<\/p>\n<p>Franklin Park, which has occupied approximately 20 acres in central Tacoma since the 1930s, will technically not be changing its name, since both the founding father and the former state senator share a last name, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewstribune.com\/news\/article249436860.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The News Tribune<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The theoretical gesture is nevertheless being hailed as a sign of progress.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI really believe that it means a lot to people \u2014 and to kids \u2014 to see people who look like them represented in the names of parks and schools and other facilities,\u201d said Metro Parks board commissioner Aaron Pointer. \u201cIt gives people inspiration. To some, it might not mean a lot. But to others, it can mean a sense of belonging, and that the city recognizes that our people are a part of the city, and not just something that is disregarded.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As The News Tribune reported:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>Not only will [the renaming] provide a concrete example of the work Metro Parks has done to improve equity, inclusion and diversity, but it will serve as an example to Tacoma residents \u2014 young and old \u2014 of the important role Black Tacoma residents have played in the city\u2019s history.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Metro Parks board chair Erik Hanberg jokingly described the name change as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kiro7.com\/news\/local\/today-in-history-king-county-officially-renamed-in-honor-of-martin-luther-king-jr\/941770559\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pulling a King County<\/a>,\u201d a reference to when Washington state lawmakers \u201crenamed\u201d King County after Martin Luther King Jr. in 2005 without actually doing anything.<\/p>\n<p>Hanberg maintained the name change meant no disrespect to Benjamin Franklin but rather was simply intended \u201cto honor a woman of color who spent much of her life living in Tacoma and working to make the city a better place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn this case, there was an opportunity to take a name from someone who had not been from Tacoma and had died long before the city was founded and replace it with an icon who is also a woman of color,\u201d Hanberg said. \u201cI don\u2019t think [Ben Franklin] loses anything by having Tacoma change the name \u2026 to someone who is actually connected to our city and has done great things for our city.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Metro Parks Board Commissioner Jessie Baines took a less charitable view toward the founding father, who once owned slaves but later became an abolitionist. According to The News Tribune, Baines argued\u00a0\u201cthat dead white men are constantly put on a pedestal in this country, despite blemishes or missteps, while people of color have rarely received similar recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rosa Franklin, 93, said when she was told she had been chosen as the park\u2019s namesake, she asked, \u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI used to live in that district. My two kids \u2026 went to Franklin Elementary, so you know that was a long time ago,\u201d Franklin added. \u201cI\u2019m so appreciative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related<\/strong>: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/cant-make-it-up-bill-hemmer-predicts-cancel-culture-coming-for-bible-characters-next\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u2018Can\u2019t Make It Up\u2019: Bill Hemmer Predicts Cancel Culture Coming For \u2018Bible Characters\u2019 Next<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Metro Parks Tacoma Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to boot Ben Franklin from a public park in central Tacoma, replacing him with Rosa Franklin, Washington state\u2019s first African &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2274103,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-95469313.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Ben Franklin\u2019s Name Scrubbed From Tacoma City Park","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-167678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-95469313.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Ben Franklin\u2019s Name Scrubbed From Tacoma City Park","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2274103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}