Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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8 UCW MARCH 24-30, 2021 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM OPINION I cannot believe that I am writing this article. It seems like America is trying its best to neuter nature on sexually inanimate objects. Dr. Seuss gets schooled on what is hurtful and wrong. Coke tries to change skin color through instruction while the government is doing its part to reduce the world's population, all in the last few weeks. Hasbro decided they will make the beloved Mr. Potato Head gender-neutral when it announced that it would be dropping "Mr." and "Mrs." from the brand as part of a gender-inclusive push. Mr. Potato Head was invented and developed by George Lerner in 1949 and first manufactured and distributed by Hasbro in 1952. By 1953, it became clear that Mr. Potato Head needed a family. Mrs. Potato Head hit the market, and they had two chil- dren, Yam and Spud. Even their kids who had friends called Kate the Carrot, Pete the Pepper, Oscar the Or- ange, and Cookie Cucumber, soon joined the family. e Head's worked hard, and their makers blessed them with such luxury as a car, boat and a kitchen. e last time we really saw the Potato Heads was in the "Toy Story" movies. roughout the history of the toy, no one told Mr. or Mrs. Potato Head that they did not have genitalia. For most kids, it was hard enough to keep up with their ears, eyes and assorted hats, never mind their private parts. However, the big brains at Hasbro are not leaving the idea of kids being able to mix parts up; they put the Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head right on the front pages by announcing the name changes to "Potato Heads." "Culture has evolved. Kids want to be able to represent their own experiences," Kimberly Boyd, Hasbro's senior vice president of global brands, told Fast Company. "e way the brand currently ex- ists — with the 'Mr.' and 'Mrs.' — is limiting when it comes to both gender identity and family structure." Hours later, after an uproar on social media, Has- bro tweeted, "Hold that Tot – your main spud, MR. POTATO HEAD isn't going anywhere!" Hasbro said that it was the toy brand that was being changed and would release a "family kit" that will allow children to create all types of families. Dr. Seuss Enterprises decided to stop publishing six books, including "And to ink at I saw it Mul- berry Street," "If I Ran the Zoo," McElligot's Pool," On Beyond Zebra!," Scrambled Eggs Super!," and "e Cat's Quizzer." e Enterprise told the Associated Press that it stopped the books' publication because they "por- tray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong." In Coca-Cola's diversity training, a slide presenta- tion told employees "to be less white is to: be less oppressive, be less arrogant, be less certain, be less defensive, be less ignorant, be more humble, listen, believe, break with apathy, break with white soli- darity." I do not have the answer to corporate racial issues, but this sounds very racist. Some stories are better seen than reading. It is worth the time to watch the full six-minute exchange on YouTube. During the confirmation hearings of President Biden's choice for Assistant Secretary for Health, Senator and Doctor, Rand Paul (R-Ky.), asked Dr. Rachel Levine if she supported youth transgen- der reassignment and was criticized because he asked, "genital mutilation is considered particularly egregious because ... it is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children." He went on to ask if she supports permitting the government to override a parent's consent to give a child puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and "amputation surgery of breasts and genitalia." Dr. Levin responded with this is "a very complex and nuanced field with robust research and standards of care that have been developed." She promised that if confirmed, she would come to his office for a discus- sion on standards of care for transgender minors. Paul went on to say that Dr. Levin supported the acceleration of minors and to allow decisions on such life-changing procedures. For the record, many parents will not allow a child to buy a cell phone more or less change their sex. President Biden signed an executive order revers- ing the Mexico City policy, permitting U.S. aid money to fund groups that provide or promote abortion around the globe. is policy was first put in place by President Reagan in order to ensure that taxpay- ers were not required to indirectly fund abortions in other countries. is policy was expanded under the Trump administration to deny assistance to foreign nongovernmental organizations that fund other groups that support abortion services. President Biden signed executive actions aimed at expanding access to Obamacare during the coronavirus pan- demic and rolling back anti-abortion policies that had been expanded by former President Donald Trump. "I'm not initiating any new law, any new aspect of the law," Biden said before signing the orders. "is is going back to what the situation was prior to the president's executive orders." Toy maker Hasbro recently announced it will release a "family kit" so that children can create all types of families. Dazed and confused by JIM JONES JIM JONES, Contributing Writer. Comments? Editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910- 484-6200.