For Immediate Release – An Open Letter to Mississippi State Representative D. Stephen Holland (D)
Marshall, MN – contact information
Dear Rep. Holland,
We were astonished to learn of your bill, HB150, to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”
Apparently you don’t take your responsibilities seriously. Surely the State of Mississippi has more pressing matters to attend to than this. Did you stop to think of the expense of rewriting textbooks or changing maps?
For that matter, did you stop to think about what this bill would do to Mississippi’s reputation? If this bill passes the legislature and is signed into law, perhaps it is time to rename the Mississippi River. After all, sharing a name with a state that wants to rewrite maps out of disdain for Mexicans would be a disgrace to the rest of the nation.
The Lincoln River would be a suitable substitute name, in honor of a great man, don’t you think?
We call on you to withdraw your bill and spare us all further embarrassment.
yours truly,
Bob Quasius
President, Cafe Con Leche Republicans
Awesome. We are going to call his office today, in the meantime we will share this letter and post it and link back to you.
You realize the bill is tongue-in-cheek and not meant to be taken seriously, right?
Update: “Some media outlets have suggested Steve Holland’s bill is a joke, while others take it seriously. If this was a joke it’s a rather tasteless one, and the joke is on the taxpayers. Politicians are not elected to crack jokes on the taxpayer dime. This bill should never have been introduced into the legislature, wasting the legislature’s time and taxpayer dollars. Stephen Holland should immediately withdraw the bill and apologize.”
I’m sensing selfishness, exclusivity & vanity from the parties opposing this name change, Mexico is not the only country bordering this body of water, all of the “Americas” and many islands in the Gulf might like this inclusivity of name as they are also a part.
He should start by changing his own name… “Holland”? Seriously?
Satire is a common and often appropriate method of illustrating opponents’ ludicrous arguments. Rep Holland’s proposal is that – satire. I believe he agrees with the mission of the Cafe Con Leche Republicans. Time to realize you’ve been punk’d, and to applaud his actions.
The key operative words needed from Rep. Holland are “withdrew the bill” and “I’m sorry” and so far we’ve heard neither from Rep. Holland.
If that was a joke it was in rather bad taste and upset many people. Our leaders need to measure their words and actions carefully and consider not just how they are intended but how they will be taken by others. Immigration and anything related to Mexico these days is a sensitive and emotional issue with many, particularly those on the receiving end of bigotry fueled by anti-immigrant legislation.
Bottom line, we stand by our request for an apology from Rep. Holland, and withdrawal of the bill from the legislature.
Bob Quasius
President, Cafe Con Leche Republicans
From a tourism POV it might make sense. I don`t believe it has anything to do with the undocumented.
http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2012/pdf/house_cmtes/mr.xml
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2012 Regular Session
To: Marine Resources; Tourism; Interstate Cooperation
By: Representative Holland
House Bill 150
AN ACT TO PROVIDE THAT FOR ALL OFFICIAL PURPOSES WITHIN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE BODY OF WATER LOCATED DIRECTLY SOUTH OF HANCOCK, HARRISON AND JACKSON COUNTIES SHALL BE KNOWN AS THE “GULF OF AMERICA”; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. For all official purposes within the State of Mississippi, the body of water that is located directly south of Hancock, Harrison and Jackson Counties shall be known as the “Gulf of America.”
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2012.
According to NPR the idea came from The Colbert Report : — The idea of renaming that body of water the Gulf of America also came up in 2010, when Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert created a Gulf of America fund to help in the cleanup after the BP oil spill. As Colbert said: “I don’t think we can call it the Gulf of Mexico anymore. We broke it, we bought it.”
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/02/09/146643464/call-it-gulf-of-america-not-gulf-of-mexico-mississippi-lawmaker-says
However in the same report Rep. Stephen Holland told Daniel Cherry of Mississippi Public Broadcasting that “so many of his Republican colleagues seem to want to push anything or anyone Mexican out of the state that he’s just trying to “embrace” their cause and help them out.” In other words, he’s introduced a bill that he thinks will make a satirical point by being outrageous. (so I was wrong in my previous post; it was about being undocumented)
This bill was never meant to be taken seriously. The man who came up with it actually is on the same side of this issue as you guys are.