- Maybe they really shouldn’t say they’re “united”, since they clearly aren’t.
United we stand. Three words that have oh-so-often been used to deliver a powerful message in everything from politics to religion to anything else where people need to band together.
It’s sort of hard to imagine that a message this positive could cause issues. It simply asks us to put aside feelings of resentment towards each other and stand together for…
Alright, who are we kidding? It’s 2020 and logic doesn’t apply anymore in this trainwreck of a year. Calling for unity has become the thing to get people to rail against each other.
And to give us a perfect example of this insanity, ladies and gentlemen, allow us to introduce the city of Milton, Florida. Of course it’s in Florida.
The City Council of Milton has become deeply divided over a proposition to describe the city as “united”. Many council members and residents feel that it is not a word that should define Milton.
The councilors and citizens dislike calling the city “united” as they find the word “offensive” and not representative of their values, according to a report in Pensacola News Journal.
This is where we’d usually crack a joke, but really, what can we add?
A Friendly Unity Cube
At the heart of the unity issue stands a cube. What, you didn’t think this story could get weirder?
Since July, members of the Black Lives Matter movement have been petitioning the Milton City Council to allow them to paint a mural commemorating their cause on a city street. This request, though, has been denied by the council.
As a compromise, the council suggested placing an art cube in downtown Milton. On the cube, artists would paint images and messages that would have a theme of “unity and inclusion”.
After lengthy debates over what should feature on the cube, the city council came to a decision in November. The cube would have a message reading: “Welcome to Milton, a united community.”
To demonstrate just how united of a community they are, half of the councilors objected to the message in a meeting on December 8. They want all mention of Milton being united to be struck from the record.
Offensive Semantics
Leading the protest at the city council is councilwoman Shannon Rice. She thinks calling Milton a united city is “offensive”.
“I asked for public comment on social media, and a lot of people are disturbed by it,” Rice said. “Some people understand that and some won’t.”
Rice suggests that instead of adding the part about unity, the cube should just read “welcome”.
“Rather than offending a portion of the public, why do we need to say anything? ‘Welcome’ is enough, I mean welcome means you’re welcome to come here,” she argued.
Joining Rice at the meeting was local resident Howard Steele. He told the city council that he was “vehemently opposed” to any message of unity.
According to Steele, the word “united” is heavily charged with political connotations and didn’t sit well with the “diverse political viewpoints” in Milton.
“I think definitions are important. In this case, especially since we’re talking about a political body, the city of Milton, and the council, I think the more appropriate definition is being joined together politically,” Steele said at the meeting.
“I oppose the use of the word ‘united’ when it is used to describe the city of Milton.”
Kim Macarthy, another Milton resident, argued that the meaning of the word “united” had changed during the past year. She – and according to her, a lot of other people – feel that calling something “united” no longer means it’s united, apparently.
“My concern is I don’t like the word right now and I do not trust the word right now because I see how it’s being used,” she said.
“So I don’t want to see it on a ‘welcome to Milton’ sign, if we can’t find a slogan or something to say that is totally neutral and non-offensive,” Macarthy added.
United at Last… Or Not
Of course, there’s the opposing side as well. Councilman Casey Powell supported the use of “united” in the message, saying its definition was “dependent upon the reader”.
“I do believe that, in this context, we’re talking about being united together as a community. Art does mean something different to different people,” Powell argued.
Finally, as is often the case with town meetings, the council voted on the issue. Three councilors voted against being “united”, three voted for it. Two councilors were attending by a video call and therefore couldn’t vote.
The tie-breaking vote came from Mayor Heather Lindsay. She voted in favor of calling Milton “united”.
“My perspective as your mayor is to stand united with anyone who believes in equal access to justice, that every human being has the right to be treated with dignity and respect, that we should all agree to respect our opinions, whether popular or unpopular,” Lindsay said.
“Our slogan is, ‘Milton, where good living flows’, and good living flows when we are united by core beliefs that promote mutual respect, justice, and peace,” she concluded.
Milton will install its art cube early next year, according to Pensacola News Journal. As a result of the council vote, it will promote the city of Milton as a united community.
That’s despite the fact that they’re everything but. Sounds like blatant false advertising.