The Racist Trees of Our National Parks — Trees are America’s newest racist symbol, by Daniel Greenfield.

Alcee Hastings, an impeached judge, and a coalition of minority groups is demanding increased “inclusiveness” at national parks.

High on their list is the claim that, “African-Americans have felt unwelcome and even fearful in federal parklands during our nation’s history because of the horrors of lynching.”

What do national parks have to do with lynchings? Many national parks have trees. People were hung from trees. It’s racial guilt by arboreal association. Trees are racist down to their roots.

Affected by [Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome], black people experience “fear and mistrust of forests and other green spaces.” … the tree is a racist symbol to black people.

This is blatant political correctness, passive-aggressive bullying to take advantage of people’s better nature for their own political ends. Why would any competent authority entertain this nonsense? Oh, fear of being called “racist.”

Influential figures in the National Park Service reject the fundamental idea of preserving natural beauty. They view a forest as a “white concept” full of scary racist trees.

Or at least that’s what they claim. … The Obama era has rotted the Federal government with radical figures who are at war with fundamental American concepts and values. They intend to use their power to destroy those concepts and values.

Ah, so it’s all about money. It’s a shakedown.

Then there’s the flow of money to “community organizations” to engage “culturally diverse communities”.

All that is code for robbing parks and moving the money into the same network of corrupt organizations that already swallows all the money that the Federal government can throw at its local projects. This isn’t inclusiveness. It’s blackmail. Advertise in our publications. Give us grants. Or your trees are racist.

For all the safe space rhetoric, the arguments ultimately come down to money. It’s not about racist tree symbolism or uniform colors. It’s about creating positions for people like Carolyn Finney or Mickey Fearn so they can lecture us on how parks are privilege and nature is racist. It’s about finding yet another unlikely target for baseless claims of racism to be milked for money, grants, ads and contracts.

Pretty naked use of political correctness for financial advantage.

hat-tip Stephen Neil