Just as I refuse to say “native American”, I refuse to say “Gulf of America”
A British map from 1700, with the Gulf of Mexico
labeled at “The Great Bay of Mexico”
The recent effort by Donald Trump to get the name of the Gulf of Mexico changed to the “Gulf of America” appears at first glance to have many laudable aspects, the most important of which his desire to energize the American people to have pride in their country. For too long young Americans have been indoctrinated with the anti-American Marxist poison pushed by our modern bankrupt academic community, and have thus been trained to think timidly and with hate about their own country.
Advocating this name change is Trump’s way of quickly countering that negativity. The United States is founded on noble principles — “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” — and it has lived up to those ideals with remarkable success during its entire 250 year history. Thus, Americans have plenty to be proud of, and to Trump’s mind something needed to be done to underline that fact.
Hence, his push to change the “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America.”
And yet, as much as I support his general effort to invigorate Americans to their glorious past, to my mind this particular effort by Trump is as false and as shallow as the left’s never-ending demands that we use new language for everything. American Indians should be “native Americans”, even though everyone born in the U.S. is native. “Chairman” must become “Chair” or “Chairperson,” even though such usage is ugly and unnecessary. Spaceflight can never be “manned,” football teams can’t be “Redskins,” and “communists” must now be called “progressives.”
And worst of all we must all use the pronouns demanded by perverts, even if when by doing so we are denying reality.
Such abuse of language offends me, as a writer. Words have very precise meanings. This precision is in fact their very purpose, because it allows us to think with clarity and depth. If you distort or hide those meanings you make it impossible to think clearly. Instead, you have chaos and incoherence. You have a society that suddenly believes that a man can make believe he is a woman, simply by saying so.
Nor is the left’s desire to impose these rules of idiocy on language new. The communists in the Soviet Union loved to do it. St. Petersburg became Leningrad. Tsaritsyn became became Stalingrad. And those are only two examples of the hundreds of city names the Soviets changed for political reasons.
Americans used to routinely ridicule this Soviet behavior. We considered it childish. And we understood that these name-changes were superficial, often used like a Potemkin Village to hide failures. You don’t achieve success by changing a name. You achieve success by achieving success. That achievement would then give the name — whatever it was — a value far beyond the sound of the words.
Thus, I won’t participate in that idiocy. Just as I won’t use the fake pronouns demanded by the LBGTQBIPOC+ crowd, I won’t use “The Gulf of America” as demanded by Trump. Hi renaming of the Gulf of Mexico is the same game, and just as shallow, no matter how laudable his intentions.
There are also other reasons for not playing this game. The renaming of many places like this is often a slap in the face of the courageous individuals who first explored these places. The map above was produced late in the 1600s to aid British ship captains in their travels to the New World, and it clearly recognized then the name the early Spanish explorers favored most for the gulf, honoring the territories of Mexico. The British understood that the Spanish were there first, and thus they had the right to name things. It is one of the rewards given to explorers, and we should not dishonor their sacrifices and hard work by changing their chosen names.
Moreover, Trump’s name choice for this gulf doesn’t fit that early history at all. Those early Spanish explorers had many names for the Gulf, from “the Sea of the North” to “the Gulf of Florida” to “the Gulf of the Yucatan” to “the Gulf of Cortez”. By 1700 the Gulf of Mexico was generally accepted by all.
At no time at all was “the Gulf of America” ever proposed by these earlier explorers. Not even the British proposed it. To suddenly pull that name out of thin air now is truly an insult to the explorers of the past.
And so, for me the name will always remain the Gulf of Mexico. Hopefully this silliness will fade, and Trump’s fake name will vanish from use.
The bottom line however is this: Trump has far more important issues to deal with than the changing of old place names. America and the world will be far better if he focus on those things, and leave the naming of places to history.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
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"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Trump is asymmetrical and disrupts what he sees needs to be disrupted in order to tear down what has been established that has become perverted, sick and broken.
Screwing with the status quo is his superpower.
The “Gulf of Mexico” is just one component just like “Taking over Greenland” and “Canada becoming the 51st state” in his multi front multi layered attack on the status quo and the radical “progressive” Globalist Leftist Democrat agenda that threatens us all. Whether they stick and become manifest or not.
May I have some more please?
Mr. Z, I concur. We erase history at our own peril, whatever the ideological motivation. Changing or erasing parts of history at a whim makes it less likely that we understand and respect the integrity of that history, much less learn from it. Even a seemingly trivial thing like this. Thanks for looking into historical names for the body of water in question, to show that “Gulf of America” was never a thing. And I can think of at least two rather good songs that name the Gulf of Mexico, lyrics not likely to change. The most I’ll concede is that an alternate name could be used, just as we have a much closer body of water (here, anyway), known alternately as the Gulf of California or the Sea of Cortez.
Fine. We’ll call it, “The Great Bay of America”, or maybe “Bay de Merica” for short.
Also the previous administration did away will drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Good thing we have oil in the Gulf of America est. 2025!
Well that’s what I heard. Can’t tell if things are satire or not anymore! I like money.
George Orwell
“Politics and the English Language”
[Horizon, April 1946]
https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/politics-and-the-english-language/
“Now, it is clear that the decline of a language must ultimately have political and economic causes: it is not due simply to the bad influence of this or that individual writer. But an effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original cause and producing the same effect in an intensified form, and so on indefinitely. A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure and then fail all the more completely because he drinks.
It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. The point is that the process is reversible.
Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation, and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble.
If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary first step toward political regeneration: so that the fight against bad English is not frivolous and is not the exclusive concern of professional writers.”
♫ “God Bless Vespucciland”… ♫
Cotour, that’s what I’m thinking. These are pawns Trump is strategically moving in preparation for checkmate in 10 moves.
James Street: You realize I hope that Trump is not simply manipulating his opponents, he is manipulating his supporters as well.
I prefer an America where Americans were strong-willed enough to recognize it when a politician plays these games, and responded by laughing at them.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/971227917/central-america-gulf-of-mexico-1671-old
Any thoughts on calling it “Golfo de Nueva Espania”. We have changed the names of many States in the USA to better suit our preference.
“Trump is not simply manipulating his opponents, he is manipulating his supporters ” – Robert
Yeah… isn’t it awesome!!!1
https://t.ly/wKXeo
“This is not a game. Learn to play the game.”
HEAR!!! HEAR!!!
Mr. Zimmerman well said. The “renaming” of the Gulf of Mexico is of the same cloth as the stupid liberal Newspeak like trick of renaming things such as many of the military bases or the Native American issue (itself problematic because ALL humanity is NOT native to the Americas, it is not IF you are a interloper but merely a matter of when).
Denying historical fact is always wrong. It is like the left claiming Slavery first first and foremost an uniquely America institution when it had been endemic in the world for as far back as we have decent records of civilizations, and other parts of the Americas (Brazil, many of the other colonies including British ones) had far more slaves than the United States ever had. Letting historical truth be denied just cheapens our efforts.
As a manipulated supporter, I see Gulf of America more as a “two can play this stupid game” rather than anything serious.
I don’t care what you call it. It’s your blog, use whatever term you like – although you are correct: It gets confusing when words keep changing meaning.
As for historical names, whatever. People give stupid names to things and change them all the time. See New Amsterdam.
That’s leaving aside pronunciation. There’s a Catron street in town. It’s kat-TRON, not KA-trone. I still use my grandfather’s Him-AL-yahs rather than HIMA-lay-as.
I think there are better hills to die on.
I like United States Gulf.
i only use the term when i’m addressing my closest mexican friends.
I think “Gulf of America” was pretty obviously just another instance out of many of Trump trolling our neighbor to the South. And a pretty good job, too, judging from the response. Whether this new usage sticks or not will be a matter for posterity to decide. In the meantime it is at least useful as an indication of the political slant of any given publication or website. If it’s lefty, Gulf of Mexico will still be in use. If it’s MAGA or MAGA-adjacent, Gulf of America will rule.
For what it’s worth, Trump deserves some credit for rolling back a number of relatively recent nomenclature changes the left imposed for ideological reasons. One notable example is the restoration of the late President William McKinley’s name to the tallest peak in North America.
Dick Eagleson: Ah, but then, I will be using Gulf of Mexico. Does that now make me a lefty?
I 100% disagree with you. Mexico has long ago lost any privilege or right to have the Gulf named after it, and absolutely since its participation in our invasion.
I will use Gulf of America.
Rollerball (1975)
“This Wasn’t Meant to be a Game, Never.”
https://youtu.be/7yGq1ZC_BIA
0:38
“…..a dystopian future in the year 2018 in which war has been replaced by the titular game, a gladiatorial spectacle of violence that helps keep the global populace entertained and anesthetized.”
I will use the same argument I use when defending the name of the State of my birth – New Mexico. New Mexico was New Mexico before what we call Mexico was Mexico. Mexico was New Spain until 1821 when Mexico won independence from Spain and chose Mexico as a national name. While New Mexico was named by the first Spanish explorers who named the region in the 1500s.
Thus, the Gulf of Mexico should have been recognized as some other name since America was America (both North and South) long before the Spanish landed in the Aztec empire (1521 or so). It would be a few years for them to concur the natives and start naming things to their liking. So, I would call it anything including the Gulf of America.
BT: Jimmy T sends.
To me it seems dumb to make commonly used words political shiboleths. I would love to use the word “xe”. English has needed a third person singular personal gender neutral pronoun for a long time. There are plenty of times you want to refer to a person but ignore gender. Implying gender is often distracting or otherwise interferes with communication. Anytime you use a gendered pronoun you draw a picture in the listener’s head that will incorrectly narrow your intended meaning. Yet if I use it the listener will either not understand the word at all or make radically incorrect assumptions about my beliefs. Similarly, you cannot now refer to the body of salt water South of Louisiana without implying a political position.
Talk to any linguist and my guess is xe will tell you that a word means what it is commonly used to mean in the community where it is being used. Period. Different communities may have different meanings for the same word. Changes made by fiat only matter if the stick. That may not be the way things “should” be but that is the way the world works and will always work, There you have it. An honest, apolitical use of “xe”. It can be done.
Robert Zimmerman,
No, continuing to use “Gulf of Mexico” makes you a traditionalist. I suspect you will have a lot of company in that respect. The left will continue to use “Gulf of Mexico” for political reasons but will be only a subset of such users. Left -> “Gulf of Mexico.” but the relationship is not commutative.
Cloudy,
English could certainly use a gender-neutral singular pronoun but is hardly alone among significant world languages in lacking one. I don’t favor either the spelling or implied pronunciation of “xe” as they seem Chinese-y rather than English-y. The now-archaic “ye” – pronounced “yee” rather its original “thee” – would do, I think, without being nearly so clankingly foreign-sounding and looking. But there is no way to force such usages. English will either acquire a gender-neutral singular pronoun – spelling and pronunciation TBD – or it won’t. But that will, if it happens, be based on “English as she is spoke” and not on decree.
I agree with you, Mr. Zimmerman. This is exactly the same kind of thing the Left does in constantly abusing language in the pursuit of power politics and cultural control. I get that he’s using the Left’s own mechanisms to fight it, but I don’t have to like it or agree. I still recognize the facile manipulation inherent in the act. As much as I enjoy seeing the Left fulminate in being hoisted on its own petard, I know that petard has been used against so much I love for decades, and it is evil in and of itself.
I could possibly have accepted the Gulf of Florida, as it has some historical precedent, but Gulf of America is just childish and superficial. As much as I like Trump, he is not an all-knowing chessmaster constantly manipulating his opponents (and supporters). He’s a frail and fallen man who makes many mistakes, while also being the best alternative and most genuinely anti-leftist president we’ve had in my 50+ years. But that doesn’t make him infallible or unquestionable. That way lies just as much tyranny as the Left’s way.