School renames 'White Pride Fitness Room' amidst accusations of racism

It might begood ideato say somethingaloud before you bestow it on a middle school workout facility. Such a thing may have even prevented what happened in the case ofWisconsin'snew"White Pride Fitness Room."

Meyer Middle School in River Falls, Wis.wanted a new fitness centre, and so began a committee to help raise fundsforit.

That committee, called Pride Fitness, was tasked with finding $100,000 US from private donors, according to the River Falls Journal.

By Jan. 28, it had managed to raise most of the necessary funds with special mention to two sources: the Royal Credit Union and a local alumnus, Roger T. White.

To thank these two patrons, and the committee who raisedm money for the centre, the local school board named it "The Roger T. White - Pride Fitness Room as presented by RCU."

But that's too verbose to say aloud. So, in an interview with the River Falls Journal, the head of the fundraising committee, Chuck Eaton, said they'd unofficially refer to it asthe "White Pride Fitness Room."

That's where the trouble began.

While ostensibly the centre's name refersto one of the donors and the name of the fundraising committee, many onlinepicked up on another implication, as "white pride" is a common slogan of white supremacist groups.

"This is terrible. White Pride? Which culturally insensitive committee let this slide? So much for building an inclusive community," wrote Jewelz MacGurder on Facebook.

Accusations of racism led to a statementfrom the school district, which tried to clear up how they'd landed onthedubious name.

"To be clear, this 'room name'has never been nor will it ever be called, 'The White Pride Room'," theRiver Falls School District wrotein a press release."We can see and understand how the new name, "Roger T. White - Pride Fitness Room" could be viewed by some people as implying "White Pride"."

According to the school district, thename for the weight room will now be eitherthe "Roger T. White Wildcat Fitness Room" or the "Roger T. White - Fitness Room as Presented by RCU."

The online argumentsdidn't stop, however, as people started coming forward to callthe original accusations of racismoverly-sensitive.Others countered that the name change was worth it to avoid any connections with white supremacist groups.

"The fact that no one on the board stopped to say the name out loud speaks to a generation who is still rather careless with their use of language," wrote Caitlin Tessman on Facebookin response to one such complaint.

"I like the new name. I think it's succinct, still conveys gratitude to Mr. White's generous donation, and isn't marginalizing or oppressive."