Zebras are from Africa, so Zebra Crossings are racist.
/Washington State declares term “marijuana” “racists”, and strikes it from state law
As reported by KIRO-7 in Seattle, Washington Democrat state Rep. Melanie Morgan, who sponsored the bill, argued that “the term ‘marijuana’ itself is pejorative and racist.”
Morgan discussed the term’s history, which originates from Spanish. “As recreational marijuana use became more popular,” she said, “it was negatively associated with Mexican immigrants.” She declared “marijuana” therefore is “racist terminology” that was used “to lock up black and brown people.”
“This is just another layer, of peeling off the systemic racism that’s built in our system,” Morgan said. And there it is, ladies and gentlemen: pretend “systemic racism.”
“Even though it seems simple because it’s just one word,” Morgan said, “the reality is, we’re healing the wrongs that were committed against Black and Brown people around cannabis.”
It’s commonly know that people of color and “LGBTQXR+ or -” folx are ticketed for jaywalking more frequently than their white oppressors, so attention must be paid.
The term “zebra crossing” was first coined in 1951 by future British Prime Minister James Callaghan who, viewing a prototype of a new pedestrian safety measure, who explicitly declared that the markings reminded him of a zebra, and a new racist trope was born. It will probably take a few years before statues of the man are entirely removed from England, but surely we can begin reparations now by, first, changing the term to “pedestrian safety zones”, and then eliminating them entirely.
Racial justice demands no less.