The Politics of Renaming and Domination
On the first day of Donald Trump’s Presidency, he renamed the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of America, via Executive Order. While a seemingly ridiculous move, it is a test of domination and an attempt to humiliate neighboring countries. It makes clear his intention to create a new era of empire and colonization. The more recent move to make English the official language of the United States aims to promote disdain and mistreatment of those of us who dare to speak Spanish outside our homes. Please do not doubt that down the road he will demand we re-name cities in the United States. Will San Francisco become St. Francis and San Antonio, St. Anthony? I suppose that Tornillo, Texas will be christened, Screw, TX, although the Texas Governor may not look favorably on that name change. Will he demand that the state of New Mexico be called New America?
When Donald Trump first suggested he would alter the Gulf’s name and before he issued the Executive Order, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum showed a world map from 1607 that labeled North America as AMERICA MEXICANA and identified the Gulf of Mexico as such—169 years before the United States was founded.
Acceding to Donald Trump’s renaming of the Gulf, both Google and Apple Maps now label the body of water as the Gulf of America. Mexico is threatening Google with legal action.
In a playful yet serious moment, signaling that they would not be intimidated, MapQuest rolled out a “Name Your Own Gulf” site, leading to creative maps shared widely on social media.
This body of water has been known as the Gulf of Mexico since the mid-16th century. It first appeared on a world map in 1550 and in a historical account in 1552. The name reflects the gulf's geographical location adjacent to land mass known as Mexico, which was colonized and claimed by Spain beginning in the early 1500s. The name Mexico originates from the Nahuatl word Mexica, the name of the indigenous people of the Aztec Empire, which was well established and flourishing before the Spanish arrived.
Before the Spanish colonization, the various coastal tribes native to parts of what is now Florida, Louisiana, and Texas had their own names for this body of water. According to legend, it was also known as Chalchiuhtlicue, the deity in Aztec mythology associated with lakes, rivers, and other freshwater bodies. You can learn more about it, including its pronunciation here.
The Associated Press (AP) refusal to call it the Gulf of America, the name assigned to it by the President’s Order, has resulted in AP being denied access to White House Press conferences or onto Air Force One, with the pool of reporters that cover the President. AP’s lawsuit against the Trump Administration is pending.
The bombastic bully has also told the world he wants to claim Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal as part of the Trump empire.
Although his Executive Orders have been overwhelmingly unsuccessful, with courts putting the brakes on his unconstitutional actions, they continue breaking the laws and disrupting the lives of millions of people. The main reason he's still issuing Executive Orders (knowing most will be blocked) is to telegraph to his base that he’s leading the charge to dehumanize Latinos, Blacks, Muslims, gays, transgender folks, and anyone who opposes his vision of what the United States should be. Millions of us are NOT in line with their vision and what the Administration is doing.
We must not stay silent. This is what has led to mass atrocities around the world. Speak up, take to the streets, and raise holy hell. Make good trouble. It’s up to us, We the People, to save our country from the autocratic billionaires who will continue to loot the US Treasury, giving themselves tax benefits while drastically cutting programs we support with our tax dollars, like Medicare, health research, Medicaid, public safety, and so much more that benefits ALL Americans not just the wealthy.
The playbook of autocrats is to bully anyone who opposes them. And they are threatening judges, activists, and the press. Speak up, and don’t be an accomplice in these injustices. Trump is all about domination, submission, and humiliation.
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