PICNICS ARE RACIST
The left has taken our indoor dining, closed our gyms, and shuttered our churches and synagogues. Now, we can’t even enjoy an outdoor picnic without being made to feel guilty. A guide published by the University of Michigan’s Information and Technology Services Department claims that the word “picnic” is offensive. The “inclusive language” list, which also includes the words “crazy,” “brown bag,” and “dummy,” was designed to make students feel safer on campus.
Before University employees put a word on an offensive list, one would think they would do some research on the word? After all, aren’t they supposed to educate for a living? Aren’t they hired to research, study, and gain understanding?
Well, in the case of Michigan, none of these things happened. They deemed a word offensive based upon no research. If they had done any research or even conducted a simple google search, they would have known that they were mistakenly offended.
Here’s the story: according to Reuters, social media memes have recently insinuated that the word “picnic” originates from the racist killings of African Americans. In the post, the text states that the word picnic was used to “describe festive events attended by racist whites.” This claim is false.
Under Jim Crow era scholar Dr. David Pilgrim, picnic comes from the 17th-century French word “pique-nique,” which describes a pot luck social gathering. Pilgrim said that the 1692 edition of “Origines de la Langue Francoise de Menage” contains the word pique-nique. The English word “picnic” did not appear in English until approximately 1800. Therefore, it is impossible that the word had origins in slavery.
The University of Michigan should be ashamed of itself. They are an expensive institution of higher education. They should focus on teaching science, math, literature, philosophy, medicine, law instead of liberal woke virtue signaling.
