For all practical purposes, one word has caused officials of the Burlingame Library to alter a tiny piece of the town’s history.
Call it another case of cancel culture if you like, but “privilege” and its exclusionary implications had to go. The editing on a large painting that graces the main library’s reading room occurred late last year.
Originally, the 63-year-old work of art, a stylized color rendering of what Burlingame’s downtown area supposedly looked like in the middle of the 20th century, dominated a wall at the community’s old city hall on Park Road.
A caption, or city motto, the product of a contest among the town’s school children, was added to it. It read: “Living in Burlingame is a special privilege.” In today’s newly hyper-aware (or “woke” if you prefer) environment, that wording caused some at the library discomfort.
Discussions about the future of the caption ensued over time, with the understanding that the picture had been located in the library since 2010 without any sort of concerted fretting about the wording. Until now.
It’s a new age. Delicate feelings and perceived grievances have become the coin of the cultural realm — and not always in a necessarily positive way. The mural’s motto was deemed not inclusive and off-putting.
City Librarian Brad McCulley explained that, “Some people had a problem with it (the language).” Instead of eliminating the sentence altogether, the decision was made to change it instead. “We took a middle road … . The equity term was more welcoming.”
So it was switched to: “Living in Burlingame is for everyone.” Ironically, even that attractive sentiment has a ring of inaccuracy and false hope since housing prices in the city are extremely high and only some people can afford to dwell there. But at least the new motto cannot be viewed as elitist.
On further review, however, maybe a more accurate sentence would be: “Living in Burlingame is for everyone who can afford it.”
DRAG QUEEN READINGS MAY RETURN: The Burlingame library’s emphasis on a welcoming philosophy could include the return of a novel pre-pandemic feature.
McCulley said it was possible that Drag Queen Story Time, in which men assume female attire and makeup to appear as women and read books to youngsters, might be presented again for the presumed benefit and education of the community’s children.
The pandemic essentially put such a unique (and, for critics, quite inappropriate) exercise on hold. Now, the question becomes: Will the event return? McCulley said it might be on the agenda this summer.
What is the goal of a drag queen reading session designed for impressionable tots in the first place? According to McCulley it’s to allow kids “to see differences.” He said that no one is forcing children to attend. It’s voluntary, he emphasized.
As he put it, “It’s up to the parents to bring their kids if they choose to ... . There is no grooming involved.”
Have there been any complaints about Drag Queen Story Time in Burlingame? McCulley said there were few. “There were some from outside Burlingame,” he offered.
FORMER PUBLISHER PASSES AWAY: The death of Half Moon Bay’s John Clinton last week at the age of 78 brought home a salient point in any discussion of local journalism.
His print newspaper, the San Mateo Times, was the last daily, family-owned, paid-subscription-only publication in these parts.
The Times, which was sold to a chain in 1996 due to heavy estate taxes, stiff borrowing costs, the rise of the internet and a troublesome economy that reduced advertising dollars dramatically, was founded in 1889. It lasted 107 years.
Clinton, son of J. Hart Clinton who guided The Times through its greatest surge of growth and influence in the decades after World War II, had the misfortune to lead it during a period fraught with challenges too overwhelming to overcome.
The situation became so dire that its buyer, Dean Singleton and his Alameda Newspaper Group, were able to swoop in and acquire The Times by assuming its crippling debt and purportedly paying a paltry $1 million to the Clinton family.
For perspective, 15 years prior to the sale, J. Hart Clinton reportedly had been offered $60 million for The Times; he turned that offer down. Timing, as always, is everything.
Email: johnhorganmedia@gmail.com.
(6) comments
i was childrens libarian assistant i love this library i read books to preschoolers taking thm on BEAR HUNT BURLINGAME IS A BEAUTIFUL TOWN. MY BOSS WANTED ME TO BE A LIBRarIAN AT THAT TIME BERKELY AND COLORADO WERE THE ONLY LIBRARY DEGREES OFFERED AROUND HERE THIS LIBRARY DESERVES ALL THE SUPPORT AROUND BEING AWARE OF SUCH OF COLOR USESED PROFUSELY BY A PAST FC WOMAN MAYOR SHE NEEDED CORRECTIONG ALL THE TIME . RAGE WOULD BE TH ANSWER LIVING IN THE SOUTH I WISH SHW HAD BEEN EXPOSED TO RAGE Of COLOR WOULD BRING THERE.F
Here's the thing: John Horgan--who worked for the San Mateo Times, as did I years ago--has his community opinions, and everyone is entitled to their own. The arc of "inclusion"--which the Burlingame Library has addressed by changing some language on a wall hanging--is important. Those of us who grew up in a largely white, middle-class and upper-class environment--that's San Mateo County, and particularly, Burlingame--have an obligation to NOTICE that the demographics of our city have changed. So the words on the wall hanging, "Living in Burlingame is a special privilege," can suggest, strongly (not just between the lines), that the history of largely white--and therefore segregated--town, celebrates what was once was, not what currently is. Do we not each have friends who are East Indian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Guatemalan, Colombian, Burmese, Taiwanese, Russian, etc., who are now our neighbors and friends? Friends who would not have been our friends when we were growing up in this town. And what of orientation diversity? Would our town have had socially recognized gay and lesbian friends, openly participating in all aspects of our lives? These are our grown children, our friends and our neighbors who are now married and raising their own families in coupleships that would not only have been unrecognized in our childhoods, but would have been shunned. The arc of inclusion may seem to sometimes swing far to those of us who grew up thinking things should be skewed to our own middle class, mid-Peninsula histories. But that's not the case in the real world. The real world is BIGGER. It is more inclusive without any of us needing to try to make it so. In my lifetime, it is completely normal, a part of our accepted culture, to have a black woman as our judge in court, as easily as it would be to see a white male judge. This change has happened in my lifetime, and I am proud to say that I have been a part of that arc of acceptance of women's roles and diversity's stamp upon my city, my state and my country. Where Horgan goes wrong--even though he has a strong point about the affordability of Burlingame, and the lack of efforts by officials to do as much for housing as they've done to approve new tech office space--is to jump from a premise about inclusion, to some "Nay-sayer" twist about diverse programming at the library. These "Nay-ers" in our culture think they have the right to name every thing they call "woke"--basically anything that upsets their apple-cart of middle class, overly constrictive history--to prevent inclusion from occurring. I grew up with this kind of fundamentalism, and it is a way of saying "The old days were better. We didn't have to include gay people, or peoples from other countries, or people who are black or brown, or women, or gay or lesbian people, etc., etc." The idea, in this interconnected, diverse world--the idea Horgan is presenting--is that we can block out what we don't feel like opening our hearts to, and the truth is, it's plain old prejudice. Every culture that experiences change has a backlash. And we should strive, in our best hearts, to not be part of it.
Thanks for your opinion (and IMO plenty of mental gymnastics), madden, on what you feel suggests, strongly (not just between the lines) a history of racism. It is telling that you paint, with a broad brush and strongly (not between the lines), everyone as a racist who doesn’t agree with your opinion. I’m not a big believer in using racism to address racism as that only promotes divisiveness, but if that’s the goal of the “woke” then congrats, it’s working. We should strive, in our best hearts, to not be a part of it.
Thanks for another informative entry, Mr. Horgan. One has to wonder why they didn’t just replace “special privilege” with “right.” Or just remove the caption. Silliness abounds… As for drag queen readings, as long as the library allows readings from other folks, you know, to be inclusive… Perhaps a superheroes theme, TMNT theme, military theme, zombie theme, ghost or vampire theme, corpse theme, religious theme, etc… Meanwhile, for parents, library patrons, and financial contributors who are offended, they may want to stop supporting the library.
"Stop supporting the library?" Sounds good to me.
Good column. Libraries are political tools.Support the DJ instead. Don't let it go the way of the San Mateo Times and RWC Tribune.
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