Acknowledge the Past, And Create a Better Future

What I want to talk about tonight is acknowledging the past, and creating a better future.  People often ask me: Why do you want to change the name of the town?  What difference would it make?

Identities and names are connected.  Professional Marketers and all politicians know this fact very well.  When you hear a name, it necessarily brings up reactions.  What the professional messaging people want to do is manage those perceptions, to do all that they can to make sure that their desired images are the ones that come up for most people upon hearing the name.

Growing up, my father, a Naval Aviator, challenged me with the question: what does your name stand for?  I've never forgotten it, and that challenge is still an important part of me.

Here in our town, we face a challenge -- the same one my father gave to me.  What does our name stand for?  What does it say about us in the wider world about us?  I suggest that it's time for us as a community to acknowledge all of our past and ALL of its images, and to create a future that reflects who we all are today and who we want to be in the future.

To some, the current name has just been there for 135 years. The connections they perceive are about an overwhelmingly white population, forced by relative isolation to be self-reliant.  They see the links to the stories of the logging industry and of the mill, and to the commercial fishing industry that once was the economic base. 

The memories of growing up in a mostly white blue collar culture are common amongst those who style themselves as the "old timers."  However, not all of the old timers buy into the idyllic picture, not all share in the loyalty to the current name. 

For some, the experience was far different.  They are careful about how they talk about their stories and memories, for speaking of the hidden history has never been welcomed -- but those feelings are every bit as real.  And the "old timers" steadily represent less and less of our population as our demographics continue to change.

For others, who look deeper than just the 135 years since the town was incorporated,  to see what that white European culture replaced, and how it was done, the current name of the town has a much different connotation.  The necessary connection to genocide, ethnic cleansing, involuntary servitude, and the treason of an army officer that caused the deaths of US servicemen is painful and offensive. 

That awareness of the hideous history is growing not just here in our community, but beyond it as well as other communities confront the truth about their pasts.  This is not going away.  It will continue to grow.

Today, the mill is gone, no longer economically viable.  The logging and fishing are sharply diminished, never to return to what they once were.  Our economic base now is overwhelmingly tourism, like it or not.  That isn't going to change, for there is nothing else to take its place.

Our demographics are also vastly different.  Where once we were predominantly a mixture of a few European cultures, that picture is rapidly changing.  Look around town at the growing number of hispanic grocery stores, for example.  Go look up the results for the 2020 census.

What does it mean?

Does our current name really reflect who we are as a community?  What are the connotations?  Let's start with the 'fort." 

While visitors to town often ask "Where is the fort?"  -- Some locals answer "there wasn't one."  Perhaps they are thinking of the old western movie image of a fort, a palisade of standing tree trunks with a gate. 

While there never was one of those here,  there was indeed a fort here, but Fort Bragg was never about defending the country as other army installations were and are.  It was a concentration camp, plain and simple.  According to the Oxford English Dictionary, and others, a concentration camp is:

"a place where large numbers of people, especially political prisoners or members of persecuted minorities are deliberately imprisoned in a relatively small area with inadequate facilities, sometimes to provide forced labor or to await mass execution."

Were the indigenous tribes "persecuted minorities?" 

Yes.  The indigenous people were denied any rights, they were not considered as citizens. They were not even considered as being fully human.

Were they deliberately imprisoned?

Yes, that was the role of the army here and elsewhere, to round up all indigenous people in the area (if they weren't killed outright) and move them to a "reservation" -- and to keep them there.

Were the inmates given adequate facilities or food?

No, they were not, as the Army reports themselves showed.  They were given less than starvation amounts of food, most of it of very poor or of inedible quality.  As a result, the death rate was high.

Were the inmates used for forced labor?

Yes, they were.  They were employed in mills and on farms without being paid.

The "fort" was a concentration camp.  It fit all of the elements of the definition.

And when the white European invaders decided that they wanted the lands of the Mendocino Indian Reservation for themselves, the remaining few inmates were forced-marched off to Round Valley, where the survivors found more of the same awaiting them.

That is, those that survived the forced-march.

Now let's look at the other half of our town's current name:  Braxton Bragg. 

While he gained some fame for his leadership of an artillery unit for one day in a battle of the US-Mexican War, nothing about him before or after would merit our commemoration of his name. 

He himself was never here, never had anything to do with the coast or the town. 

He was a slave-owner and trader.  He was an alcoholic. 

He turned traitor to the USA, joining the Confederate Army as a general, where he proved himself totally incompetent -- so much so that even the Confederates relieved him of his command, but not before he was responsible for the deaths of many US servicemen.

So how did our town end up commemorating this man's name as if he were worthy of emulation? 

The lieutenant who led the first group of soldiers here had served under Bragg in the Mexican American war, and for some reason, liked him.  So we first got Camp Bragg, and later Fort Bragg because Lieutenant Gibson liked him.  Later, other Army officers requested that the name be changed because of Bragg's treason, but the Army left here before the change could be completed. 

So here we stand today, burdened with a name that commemorates a concentration camp and a thoroughly unworthy man. 

What does it say about us, that we retain such a name as the truth steadily becomes more known both here and in the country around us?   Is this what we want people to think of when they hear the name of our town?  I don’t think so.

Those are the arguments for changing the name:

It doesn’t reflect who we are today.

It commemorates a concentration camp and a thoroughly unworthy man.

As the full history of what was done to the indigenous people, not just here, but all over the country, becomes more widely known, holding onto the current name will result in image problems.  This is not what we want our community to be known for.

But what about those that want to retain the name, the “fort bragg forever” crowd and their argument

Let’s look at the realities.

First, along with changing the current name of our town, there will be a change at the post office as well — setting up an alternate name for the 95437 zip code.

That will mean that those who want to continue using the old name may do so.  Their mail will get delivered safely.

No business will be required to change their name.  If fort bragg shoeshine wants to keep that name, they can.  No problem.

But whattabout the cost?  A former city manager did an estimate of $271K.  Not billions, not millions, 271K.  The city spent nearly that much in promoting tourism last year.

But, but, it’s ERASING history!

History can’t be erased; that’s not possible.  But it can be hidden, as was done here.

What we’re about is un-hiding, un-erasing the full history of what was done here and elsewhere so that we can learn from it instead of pretending that it never happened, that it has no relation to who we are today.

But, you’re ‘canceling’ my cultural identity!

Why should the myth of a fort bragg cherished by a diminishing number of residents be perpetuated on those who do not want it?

Our town has changed, irrevocably.  It will continue to change as time goes on.

It’s time that our name reflects who we are as a community.

What will the change look like?

First, there will be an initiative to place the question on the ballot.  Signatures will be gathered, and when enough have been, the issue will get added to the ballot just as any other initiative.

When it goes on the ballot, only voters who reside within the city limits will get to vote — that’s the law, since we are an incorporated city.

When it is approved by a majority of the voting residents, the name will be changed.

What will the new name be?  That’s up to us, to find a name we can agree on, one that properly reflects who we are as a community now.

Will it be Noyo?  Port Noyo?  Noyo River?  Some other name?

That’s the necessary next step, to create a name and a future together.