Source: Whitesboro, New York, votes to keep village’s seal, despite allegations that it is racist, as it features a white man choking a Native American.
My first thought when I came across this story was that there was no way this could actually be true. No place in America could really be represented by such imagery, right? A white man choking a Native American, surely, there’s nothing wrong with that?
I honestly thought this was a fake, The Onion-like satire post that was kind of trying to go the route of Parks & Recreation, and all of the horrifically shameful murals all over Pawnee City Hall. I mean, why wouldn’t artwork of a white guy choking an Indian go hand-in-hand with public bare-knuckle fighting between men and women?
Regardless, this village and its seal are amazingly, real. Naturally, one of the first inclinations of mine is to find out where Whitesboro is, to see if I’ve ever been near it, or have any geographical understanding of it’s location. Turns out, Whitesboro is not far from Syracuse, a place I’ve been to a few times, but it’s not surprising that it’s upstate, and not anywhere near the New York that most people think about when they hear New York.
Suddenly, places like Whitesburg-Blacks Run-Lynchburg don’t seem as blatant, in perspective.
The ironically humorous thing about this whole story is just how unapologetic the residents of Whitesboro seemingly are. “Overwhelmingly” opposed to changing of the seal (Around 75% against change), and mentions of residents who “don’t care what others think,” or the general opinion that the world is aspiring to be overly politically correct.
And then there’s the hilariously poor attempts at denial, with an explanation of the imagery stating that it’s more of a “friendly wrestling match” between the village founder and the Oneida Indian.
But throughout all of this, this is very much, a true story. ‘Murica.
