Eureka NAACP Opposes Measure M

This is a press release from the Eureka NAACP:

The Eureka NAACP opposes “Measure M”, a ballot measure which, if passed, would prevent alterations to or removal of the statue of President William McKinley located at the center of the Arcata Plaza.

The Eureka NAACP stands in solidarity with the Wiyot Tribal Council, who voted in February of 2018 to support the efforts of statue removal. The Eureka NAACP also commends the Arcata City Council’s public hearings on this issue and its eventual 4-1 vote in February 2018 to remove the statue, which is in keeping with its Indigenous Peoples’ Day Proclamation. The Eureka NAACP joins the Wiyot Tribal Council and Yurok Tribal Council in formally endorsing NO on Measure M. At time of press, there were 55 organizations and businesses that support NO on Measure M.

The Eureka NAACP recognizes that the City of Arcata is in Wiyot traditional territory and encourages all Arcata residents to respect the Wiyot Tribal Council’s position on this matter and vote NO on Measure M.

President William McKinley’s policies dismantled five Tribes through the seizure of 90 million acres of land and dissolution of their Tribal courts, resulting in profound harm. President William McKinley’s policies brought similar harm to Indigenous Peoples of the nations he subjected to U.S. invasion and exploitation, including the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico and Hawai’i.

Before his presidency, as head of the Ways and Means committee, William McKinley successfully lobbied his party to abandon their resolve to enhance voting rights for Black citizens in the south. President William McKinley was also criticized by Black civil rights activists of the time for the inadequacy of his response to the brutalities of white supremacy. Some of these activists included civil war veterans and Ida B. Wells, one of the eventual founders of the NAACP.

The Eureka NAACP encourages the community members of Arcata to stand with the Wiyot and Yurok Tribal Councils, the Arcata City Council, the 55 local organizations and business and vote NO on Measure M

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CAROL -
Guest
CAROL -
5 years ago

oh brother

Swine
Guest
Swine
5 years ago

And what about most of cointries foinding fathers. Most gfaces of money owned slaves. What about the atate of washington. What about what about. Why cant peoplw just live lives now and lets takes care of people now. This is suxh a distraction and waste of time

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago

“Despite McKinley’s rhetoric, his administration achieved little to alleviate the backwards situation of black Americans because, according to historian Gerald Bahles, McKinley was “unwilling to alienate the white South.” However, McKinley did appoint thirty African-Americans to diplomatic and record office positions. During the Spanish-American War, McKinley even countermanded army orders preventing recruitment of African-American soldiers. In summary, McKinley’s heart appears to have been in the right place, but the political realities of his times prevented him from making significant inroads into the powerful racism of his times and from becoming someone ahead of his times in breaking these barriers.”
https://potus-geeks.livejournal.com/123515.html

tax payer
Guest
tax payer
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

the naacp wants you to think all white people are racist because they themselves are racist, its in the name. they are for everyone except white people (The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

😮
Guest
😮
5 years ago
Reply to  tax payer

White Nationalist!

Divide by Zero
Guest
Divide by Zero
5 years ago
Reply to  😮

Realist.

Central HumCo
Guest
Central HumCo
5 years ago

Measure B – a bed tax in Blue Lake, being a “Special Tax” takes 2/3 to pass, of those living in Blue Lake.
Measure M – do not remove a statute in Arcata takes majority to pass – of those living in Arcata.
Measure K – invasion of undocumented foreigners all over the county, takes majority to pass “Countywide”, even tho “General Law” county’ rules explicitly state that County measures are only applicable in unincorporated county areas.

Measure O – is so goofed-up, it takes Zeitgeist to explain it -and then, one still scratches their head.

Ullr rover
Guest
Ullr rover
5 years ago

If this whole thing about McKinley had been addressed along the lines of: “…we would rather look upon the face of Bigfoot in the plaza center because Sasquatch better represents the qualities of the Northcoast: mystical, nebulous, etc.” I could support the removal of the current figurehead. But, because of the myopic view of ignorant people, attacking the actions of a historical figure who did not live in these times, the justification for the removal of McKinley is without merit.

For better or worse we stand on the shoulders of people who made hard decisions. To judge them with the blinders of time is foolish. Learn from history to make more informed decisions into the future; stop dwelling in the past and pretend that self-righteous indignation is anything more than self-indulgence.

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Ullr rover

But he’s the only monument the area has. And he’s in a town full of people anxious to make a difference. Mind you not desperate enough to do actual work but willing to rally to a cause to show that they know better than people from a hundred twenty years ago. Making war on the dead is so safe- the dead rare defend themselves.

The sculptor was an Armenian immigrant who was self taught. “Patigian was born in Van in Western Armenia, then part of the Ottoman Empire. His curious father became an amateur photographer as the new medium was taking shape, but he was accused of spying for the Russians by the Turks and escaped to the United States. Patigian soon followed, and after years on his father’s raising farm in Fresno, moved to San Francisco and began to sculpt. ” https://auroraprize.com/en/armenia/detail/10070/haig-patigian-san-franciscan-sculptor

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Ullr rover

Zehndner was also an immigrant who came to the US from Germany during the good rush (I think.) ” Arriving in America with a very small sum of money, it was not easy for George Zehndner to reach Indiana, but by dint of considerable patience and prolonged effort he arrived in that state and found work on a farm, where he remained until the spring of 1852. Meanwhile he had become familiar with the English language and was thus better fitted to cope with the difficulties of life in a strange country. Leaving the Indiana farm, he walked to Dayton, Ohio, and thence to Cincinnati, where he took passage on a river steamboat bound for New Orleans, and from the latter city he worked his passage to Havana. Next he sailed for the isthmus. He was obliged to walk across the isthmus, and when he landed at the Pacific coast he found about three thousand persons waiting for boats to take them to San Francisco. After some time he secured passage on an old whaling vessel, which was obliged to put in at Honolulu owing to the scarcity of provisions. There again the young emigrant met with difficulties, for he was without money. Finally he was taken on board the schooner Lena, which brought its one hundred sixty passengers into the harbor of San Francisco in August of 1852.” http://www.onlinebiographies.info/ca/humb/zehndner-g.htm

“On March 22, 1862, local Native Americans attacked and burned down Zehndner’s Angel Ranch, shooting Zehndner in the back and hand. His injuries caused him years of illness, but he was able to return in 1866. In 1870, he sold Angel Ranch to claim a home in Arcata, where he resided thereafter. Zehndner owned two other ranches in the region, which he leased in retirement, as well as business property in town.

Zehndner idolized President McKinley, and in 1905 commissioned sculpturist Haig Patigian to produce a large statue of the late President McKinley. Zehndner’s history reflects him to be an opportunist who took advantage of the Indian indenture system in California. ”

A 1860 census record shows that Zehndner had a 7 year old indentured Indian child in his household. Indentured servitude was made illegal after the civil war.
https://m.facebook.com/humboldthistory/posts

JD
Guest
JD
5 years ago
Reply to  Ullr rover

And “What ever happened to just forgiveness?”

Ullr rover
Guest
Ullr rover
5 years ago
Reply to  JD

In an era where everyone is judge, juror and executioner behind the comfort of their keyboards, there is no room for forgiveness.

It’s ironic that the “Information Age” has led to the antithesis of the “Age of Enlightenment “. Reason is sacrificed for 👍’s.

shak
Guest
shak
5 years ago
Reply to  Ullr rover

Exactly. Well said ULLR!

As an aside, I like the bigfoot idea, but then we’d be fighting over which gender and if the ladies win, then it would be torn down after the locals affectionately call our new lady Sasquatch statue “Humboldt Honey”. There’s no winning in today’s create a crisis times.
But I’d still vote for her, yes I would.

Central HumCo
Guest
Central HumCo
5 years ago

Well said Ullr rover.

This has been referred to as “fossil thinking” or “dinosaur consciousness,” and it is the drive behind rampant consumerism; the voracious devouring of resources; and all manner of “predatory” finances.

vibes cartel
Guest
vibes cartel
5 years ago

McKinley voted for Trump! And yes white people are all racists to some degree. In Humboldt to a very high degree.

Connie Dobbs
Guest
Connie Dobbs
5 years ago
Reply to  vibes cartel

NPR said so.

I like stars
Guest
I like stars
5 years ago
Reply to  vibes cartel

Hey vibes, is it just white people, or is it all people?

THC
Guest
THC
5 years ago
Reply to  vibes cartel

It’s funny how racist white people were the first two countries in the world to actually outlaw slavery… And that all forms of slavery that are still happening todayn are in countries that aren’t controlled by white people.

Mike
Guest
Mike
5 years ago

I’d vote for the removal of Arcata from Humboldt County. Del Norte can have them

shak
Guest
shak
5 years ago

Imperialism
Imperialism is a policy that involves a nation extending its power by the acquisition of lands by purchase, diplomacy or military force.

The Spaniards, the Japanese, the Chinese, the might as well include just about every nation/country here, including the various tribes.

What’s not being said, is how the non-imperialists are fighting the global imperialists who have been selling off the USA one bite at a time for decades. No more. If the non-imperialists lose, there will be absolutely no more borders at all. Even the Reservations will lose their borders. Know thine enemies.

Central HumCo
Guest
Central HumCo
5 years ago

But wait . . . what about the Farmer’s Market and the yummer pastry in Arcata?

Central HumCo
Guest
Central HumCo
5 years ago

Just like ol Eric Kirk , the BUM – BAR Union Member, you think you can silence me?

You have my pity Kym.

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Central HumCo

That sort of remark is embarassing to all who inadvertently see it. I suggest you delete it while you can and be more civil.

Added- I see you did but it’s replacement was only a small improvement.

Saxonwulf
Guest
Saxonwulf
5 years ago

NAACP racist
SPLC racist
ADL racist

They all hate non-Jewish whites. The west is dying. Men of the west, stand and fight!

😮
Guest
😮
5 years ago
Reply to  Saxonwulf

White Nationalist!

Anti troll league
Guest
Anti troll league
5 years ago
Reply to  😮

Delusional globalist!

hmm
Guest
hmm
5 years ago

I agree with removing it but only because it’s ugly and has no significant connection to the city.

But the argument for removal presented by regressives is illogical. By their standard no human who has (or likly will) ever lived should be honored. Not MLK, Ghandi, not Jesus ( who was the farther of the three from being perfect).

stuber
Guest
stuber
5 years ago

What about John Muir, the guy who discovered Yosemite ? Tear his statues down! He referred to black slaves as sambos and sambas, said they were not able to work as hard as white folks, whom he considered superior. And since the asshole was wrong about that, we figure he is wrong about all his environmental bull shit too. Are there statues depicting Indians? All tribes in the US before other humans came here slaved each other, made raids on each other just for slaves. What about them? Pull the racist slave owner Indian stuff down. And here? The Yurok slaved the Wyot, etc etc etc. [edit]

Mike
Guest
Mike
5 years ago

And as I have said many times before, I would like to purchase the statue and place it in my front yard, not as a tribute to McKinley, but just for the hell of it.

Humboldt Honeycomb
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Mike

I like your style. Be like Mike.

shak
Guest
shak
5 years ago

Shouldn’t we delay the ballot until after all the voters have settled in? https://twitter.com/RepMattGaetz/status/1052629557826736129
I love the gun in the money man’s belt. What kind is that?

😮
Guest
😮
5 years ago
Reply to  shak

Chicken feed!

Unknown
Guest
Unknown
5 years ago

Rewrite history? Sure, why not. If Isis can do why shouldn’t we? Now we need a nice seculpture og Buddha to blow up!

Anonymous#1
Guest
Anonymous#1
5 years ago

Someone on some site posted that we should replace the McKinley statue with on of Cherokee Brig. General Stand Watie. I google him. Interestingly, he was a Confederate General who’s unit was made up of the five tribes that the No on M people keep saying McKinley shafted. Apparently these were slave owning tribes. Watie was the last Confederate force to surrender 70 days after Lee surrendered at Appomattox.

THC
Guest
THC
5 years ago
guest
Guest
guest
5 years ago
Reply to  THC

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/25/cherokee-nations-expels-d_n_936930.html

“The controversy over the freedmen’s status is at least in part about money. The Cherokee nation, the second-largest Native American tribe in the country, receives money from the federal government and earns money from its stake in the lucrative gambling industry, which totaled $26.4 billion for all tribes in 2009. In the run-up to the 2007 amendment vote, some proponents of expelling the freedmen suggested that more blacks might apply for membership to receive tribal money. “

Bill
Guest
Bill
5 years ago

Unknown and stuber above both bring up some excellent points!! Agree 100% with those and similar posts. This is much ado about nothing as usual for the vocal emotionally unstable liberal hordes in Arcata. Complete nonsense.
By the way the Treasurer and Principal Officer for the No on Measure M group are both from Eureka, Alice Woodworth, and Kelsey Reedy respectively. The Treasurer and Principal Officer for the Yes on Measure M group are both from Arcata.

Go figure, another example of who or what is really behind this…….??????

Don’t forget the citizens of Arcata will foot the bill, the lowest estimates are in the $60,000 range but all projects like these go over budget, i am guessing more like in the $75,000 – $100,000 range. Good luck with pushing that onto the citizens.

Whatever!!!!
Guest
Whatever!!!!
5 years ago

Everyone is racist. Truly. Every single person has a different degree of racist eeking through their veins. That’s the way this country is and always will be. Frankly I could care a less about the friggen statue. We have more important things to worry about.

Tailgate
Guest
Tailgate
5 years ago

i remember the day when mkinley came to arcata it was grate he was buyin everyone drinks at thealibi he took a big dump in the plaza an the apd have to clean it up