Duluth Votes To Remove “Chief” From All City Leadership Positions – IOTW Report

Duluth Votes To Remove “Chief” From All City Leadership Positions

MPR

The city of Duluth is moving to delete the word “chief” from the titles of two of its administrative leadership positions in an effort to remove language that some Native Americans and others find offensive.

On Monday, the City Council is scheduled to take up an amendment to the city charter to change the name of the city’s “chief administrative officer” to “city administrator.” The city’s “chief financial officer” would be renamed “finance director.”

“We are dropping the name ‘chief’ with intention and with purpose so we have more inclusive leadership, and less language that is rooted in hurt and offensive and intentional marginalization,” Duluth Mayor Emily Larson said in explaining the move. More

According to Google answers

Although the word “chief” in American English has become widely associated with indigenous Americans, the word is actually much older than the white people’s arrival in America. It is derived from the Latin word “kaput,” which meant “head.”

Like most English words derived from Latin, “chief” came to us by way of French, which explains why it is so similar to “chef,” which is short for “chef de cuisine,” meaning “head of the kitchen.”

40 Comments on Duluth Votes To Remove “Chief” From All City Leadership Positions

  1. The Russian word for “Chief” is “Rurik.” Impressive enough.

    The Progressive word for “Chief” is “Twatlick” which is closer to the original Klingon.

    I’m too old for this shit. What.A.Bunch.Of.Dipshits.

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  2. @Monkey beat me to it. How long before companies like Google, Starbucks, etc. change the executive titles? I always liked HMFIC, but guessing that isn’t politically correct either.
    Boss? nope. Master? nope. Supervisor? nope. All three have slavery overtones. I guess we will just have to go communist where everyone is equal (some more than others).

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  3. Awesome. I want to be the new Fire Fuhrer.

    Possibly the Fuhrer of parks and recreation.

    “The Police Fuhrer was unavailable for comment…”

    It’s just so sexy.

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  4. …ok, I’ve been trying not to overshare but this is like a song cue.

    For many years my family’s gone to Western Tennessee for recreation and because the wife’s got family there, and the mountains call to both of us. Because there’s some evidence that someone on her side maybe took “Indian Affairs” too literally, we’ve also spent some time over the Qualla Boundary in Cherokee N.C.,where there’s a GREAT little old-school hotel, but I won’t name it unless someone asks. Anyway, there was a Dairy Queek behind the now-defunct Chief Sanoukees’ complex that was entirely staffed by what appeared to be full-blooded Cherokee Indians. This Dairy Queen franchise, as many do, localized their menu choices to the tourist area they were in, so in this case, they offered a “Big Chief” burger, roughly analogous to a Big Mac, so I approached the young Cherokee fellow to acquire this and other items from him, as his position behind the counter suggested that was his job. the whole crew seemed pretty sullen and unmotivated,but this particular gent was especially dour. nothing loathe, I was eventually able to engage his wandering attention for the purposes of procuring dinner, but as slowly as this activity went, it came to a screeching halt when I got to the signature treat.

    “…And a Big Chief burger”, I continued, not out of any racial animus but because that’s what they SAID it was, right there on the menu board…

    “You mean a Big CHEF burger” he opined as all order-taking activity ground to a halt.

    ….stopped in midstream on what I thought to be a simple task, I scanned the menu board again to ensure I wasn’t ordering off-card. sure enough, right there next to the “H” was an “I”, standing there as upright as the cigar store Indian on the other side of the bridge.

    …well, putting it off to my bad hearing and not wanting to get something unexpected, I reiterated “…a Big Chief burger…” without any emphasis.

    “…you mean, a Big CHEF burger”, he said slowly and empathetically, finally showing something other than boredom, which was anger.

    Then the penny dropped. This guy wasn’t going to complete my order, and quite possibly kick my ass, if I didn’t call it a Big CHEF burger as HE was.

    …well, being in Custer’s position of too many Indians and not enough bullets, technically outside the administrative United States, and just wanting to feed the kids without pushing a dumbass Corporate name that I really didn’t care about, I was able to complete the order (burgers were pre-cooked and kept warm in wrappers, so no spit), and our really substandard meal was procured for our consumption in the poorly-cleaned dining room.

    …I could give WAY more examples, but this is a good one about how petty and touchy the Tribes can be,even BEFORE all this blew up. And while I can see not wanting to work in a cartoon version of your ancestry all day long, that’s YOUR choice to do that, so if you don’t LIKE it, maybe do something ELSE…

    (Sorry, @Rick, but it’s only ONE, so I wanted to make it count…;))

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  5. Supershade…… bro….. they’re Injuns.

    They…… they don’t cook.

    That’s as nice as I can put it. Or, bring a sack lunch if you’re ever on a Rez.

    I love my Indians. I hired some for my Polo team several years ago. Excellent riders, fierce competitors….. just…. not ….”modern” in their food tastes.

    To review, follow fat Chinamen. They eat well. Mesikins AND Mormons can cook like angels and Injuns can set a pot of boiling water on fire.

    Make your vacation plans accordingly.

    Signed,

    Aaron Burr, Fuhrer of Food.

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  6. By deleting the word “chief” from the titles of two of its administrative leadership positions, Duluth claims the title of chief virtue signaler.

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  7. What would Chief Dan George say? Or Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe of Indians and Chief Joseph dam in Wash. state. How about any sports team named the Chiefs? And what about Chief Petty Officers in the Navy? And the train they call the Super Chief, etc. etc! And Maxwell Smart couldn’t call the Chief, Chief anymore. And the Irish band The Chieftains would have to change their name as well.

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  8. Leave it to the left to take a word that was meant to be a positive (i.e., “chief”), to a word that is a pejorative. You can’t make this shit up.

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  9. Aaron Burr
    JUNE 19, 2020 AT 7:20 PM
    “Awesome. I want to be the new Fire Fuhrer.”

    …still seems like “Chief” sounds more correct, seeing as how he’s in charge of battalions of Fire Injuns…

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