# I pit the Houston Independent School District **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 25, 2016, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624 "2016-05-25T03:29:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/21 "2016-05-25T14:55:29Z")
Don’t mind Clothy. He’s just a dumb old racist who can’t stop himself from barfing in public. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/22 "2016-05-25T15:05:26Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Don’t mind Clothy. He’s just a dumb old racist who can’t stop himself from barfing in public. I thought true practitioners of martial arts were supposed to be [calm and in control.](http://www.tigerrockmetairie.com/benefits-of-practicing-martial-arts) > [@](#): > > Martial arts train practitioners to become more responsible and observe mutual respect.You can learn to control your aggression and gain inner strength. Regular practice helps to relieve tension and frustration, and improves emotional health. The training releases feel-good endorphins in the body, which elevates mood and breeds happiness. I’m picturing **Clothy** as the karate teacher in _The Karate Kid._ “We do not train to be merciful here. Mercy is for the liberal. Here, in the streets, in competition: A liberal confronts you, he is the enemy. An enemy deserves no mercy.” ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/23 "2016-05-25T15:10:00Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I pit the Houston Independent School District for its massive stupidity and waste of taxpayer dollars in renaming schools that had names of Confederates. Political correctness running amok again, and the taxpayers take it in the shorts - again. > > It’s no wonder HISD is a sub-par school district. Political correctness is far, far more important than, ya know, actually teaching the kids. > > [http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/HISD-removes-names-of-8-schools-with-Confederate-7465929.php](http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/HISD-removes-names-of-8-schools-with-Confederate-7465929.php) If building citizenship is part of the purpose of public education then honoring traitors in the building where we are trying to do this is probably contrary to that objective. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/24 "2016-05-25T15:26:39Z")
It’s weird to me the things people will say because of their political beliefs. Just to start with, I don’t understand why conservatives in general would be against renaming buildings named after racist traitors to the United States. You’d think that’s the kind of thing they’d support. (As an aside, just in general, how did conservatism become so intertwined with racism?) But that aside, why do individual conservatives feel the need to parrot the party line in every respect? Couldn’t someone like \*\*Clothahump \*\*pick only the reasonable parts of conservatism (like desire for smaller government, which is at least a defensible position), but dump the race-bating, traitor-supporting, douchebag stuff? Being able to speak out against the bad behavior of people who are otherwise on your side is a significant part of having strong moral character, but every time I see a \*\*Clothahump \*\*post, you’re failing this test. You don’t even have to speak out against it, just don’t parrot the stupidest things you see each day. Just follow this simple rule: If it’s stupid, or racist, or ignorant, don’t make a post in support of it. Demonstrate that moral character you’ve presumably worked so hard on (and let me say, I shudder to think what kind of person you were before you started practicing martial arts). ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/25 "2016-05-25T16:19:07Z")
Why were schools named after people who tried to destroy the United States in the first place? It’s like the south never realized that they actually lost the war. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/26 "2016-05-25T17:57:48Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > My kids graduated from a par highschool, I’m glad to say. What was their index? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/27 "2016-05-25T18:02:31Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > My kids graduated from a par highschool, I’m glad to say. Only took them three attempts, not bad. Did your district allow mulligans? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/28 "2016-05-25T18:16:06Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Don’t mind Clothy. He’s just a dumb old racist who can’t stop himself from barfing in public. I feel quite bad for him. He seems like one the unhappiest people I’ve ever heard of. I’m about his age, and while I suppose there are things I could complain about, overall, life is pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/29 "2016-05-25T19:40:00Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > I feel quite bad for him. He seems like one the unhappiest people I’ve ever heard of. I’m about his age, and while I suppose there are things I could complain about, overall, life is pretty good. No, this isn’t true. I’ve met Clothahump in person on several occasions. He’s a very pleasant and sociable person who’s generally happy with life. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/30 "2016-05-25T19:40:19Z")
Heh. 😃 I love it when I open a wtf thread and it’s fun. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/31 "2016-05-25T20:16:47Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Am I the only one thinking that maybe, you know, just stop naming schools after political/historical figures, or even safer, not after people at all? Easy future-proofing against this kind of thing. > > It’s not like in fifty years, anyone’s going to object to “Bland Valley High School” or “Beige Meadows Elementary” over their historical implications… “I went to Uncanny Valley High”. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/32 "2016-05-25T20:37:17Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > No, this isn’t true. I’ve met Clothahump in person on several occasions. He’s a very pleasant and sociable person who’s generally happy with life. I haven’t met him, but I’ll stick up for him and point out that his argument seems to be more along the lines of questioning the monetary expenditure of changing the names, when HISD seems to be perpetually cash-strapped and not known for academic excellence on the whole, especially at most of the schools named for former Confederates. He’s not saying he’s angry because they’re changing the Confederate names, but rather questioning the changes because they take valuable resources away from the district’s core mission, i.e. educating students. That’s entirely fair, and doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with racism or anything like that… except that apparently criticizing politically correct actions is also politically incorrect and gets you excoriated. It’s almost as if the thinking is that it’s more important to change the names for feel-good reasons, than to spend those thousands of dollars on educational purposes, and you must be racist if you disagree. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/33 "2016-05-25T20:43:59Z")
The names are being changed for educational purposes. It’s to educate the dumb-fucks in Texas that they lost the fucking war and that traitors names shouldn’t be revered, much less placed on public buildings. That’s a lesson that needs teaching and frequent reinforcing. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/34 "2016-05-25T21:53:21Z")
Depends. If the only thing on their resume is being a general for the Confederacy, then judge them by that, according to your lights. Nathan Bedford Forrest, in my estimation, deserves no official evidence of esteem. Robert E. Lee, on the other hand, performed a selfless and worthy act by surrendering, knowing full well he may have been hanged for it. A wretched and gory Southern resistance was still possible, though ultimately doomed, until he closed the lid on the coffin. Fighting for such a cause in the first place? Again, you judge by your own lights. (Aside: Can’t remember the movie, but the panning shot that established the scene’s setting paused for a moment on the inscription declaring “Eugene V. Debs High School”. I wonder if I’m the only one who laughed…) ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/35 "2016-05-25T21:59:32Z")
Woohoo! This is a glorious day! I love the removal of the names of racist traitors from schools. Kids should never be taught that the Confederates did anything right for they were violent, backward, racist scumbags. Cheers to Houston for correcting the mistakes history and their knuckle-dragging predecessors made! 😃 😃 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/36 "2016-05-25T22:21:56Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Clothy can’t wait that long to making a complete idiot of himself again, So complaining about a waste of my tax dollars is making an idiot of myself? Fuck off. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/37 "2016-05-25T22:29:14Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > So complaining about a waste of my tax dollars is making an idiot of myself? > > Fuck off. Houston ISD has an elected schoolboard. If voters don’t like it, they can vote them out. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/38 "2016-05-25T22:48:12Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > So complaining about a waste of my tax dollars is making an idiot of myself? > > Fuck off. Is fiduciary duty the sole reason for the pitting then? And exactly how many dollars were wasted here? Can’t seem to find that from the OP. Was it more than the [2.7 million dollars of useless technology](http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article3865141.html) that the Fort Worth school district wasted? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/39 "2016-05-25T22:56:38Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > And if you want to complain about wasting money: > [$60 Million Texas High School Stadium Deemed Unsafe for Football](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/60-million-texas-high-school-stadium-deemed-unsafe-football-n109946) > > Hey! Let’s build another! > [That’s Right, $63 Million for a Football Stadium … for High Schoolers](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/12/sports/high-school-football-stadium-texas-63-million.html) > > Let’s not be left behind! > [Ground broken on America’s most expensive high school football stadium](http://usatodayhss.com/2016/ground-broken-on-americas-most-expensive-high-school-football-stadium) > > So how much did it cost to change the names of a few schools? > [@Clothahump](#): > > So complaining about a waste of my tax dollars is making an idiot of myself? > > Fuck off. Money well spent. Bravo, Houston. Fuck the confederacy, and fuck 61 million dollar high school football stadiums and the giddyups they rode in on. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624/40 "2016-05-25T23:37:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > No, this isn’t true. I’ve met Clothahump in person on several occasions. He’s a very pleasant and sociable person who’s generally happy with life. OK, so he’s not actually the eternally angry, frustrated grump he comes off as here? Good to know. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-houston-independent-school-district/755624.md?page=3)