Oops, Well? Phonetically Infelicitous? Anyway, not yet.

Oops well

RantWoman takes note:
The word "oversight" is included in the following list.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/49834/14-words-are-their-own-opposites

RantWoman for sheer geek nerd delight in connection with another matter reread her Meeting's bylaws and discovered that the word Oversight appears about 14 times throughout the 3-page document. Even worse, the word "Overseers" also appears.

Just in time for the recently-ended White Privilege Conference, #wpc14, the latest edition of our Meeting's monthly newsletter includes the following item:

Oversight Committee is considering changing our name. We have discussed potential names including Care and Counsel.

Why?

Let’s consider the query from North Pacific Yearly Meeting’s Faith and Practice, 1986:

“Do you endeavor to cleanse yourself of every vestige of racial prejudice, and firmly but lovingly oppose it in your home, among your friends and acquaintances, and in business?”
Here is one Thesaurus definition: oversight - a mistake resulting from inattention, or an unintentional omission resulting from failure to notice something.We may be making a mistake resulting from failure to notice that the terms overseer and oversight have hurtful connotations to some people. In an online discussion about ending racism among Friends one Quaker says:“I was on Nominating Committeefor a Friends group, and we really were hoping a certain African American Friend would bewilling to serve on our Overseers Committee. The Friend in question gave me and my fellow Nominating Committee person (both of us white) a long look and then, as best I can recall, thanked us for thinking of him, expressed his affection for both the organization and the committee in question, and then said there was really no way he could even consider serving on a committee with such a name.

”Perhaps “Overseers” conjures up images of slavery more readily than “Oversight.” But why risk using hurtful language? Vanessa Julye, who led sessions for UFM on racism several years ago, in an article entitled “Racism Hurtsand Challenges Everyone” asks us: “Most of the racism I have encountered in Quakerism has been subtle. It is present in the language and some of our traditions. When we celebrate our history and traditions, is it done in a manner which is inclusive? Do we use terms, or focus on certain aspects of history, leaving out the painful parts? “

Here is a second Thesaurus definition of oversight: “management by overseeing the performance or operation of a person or group.”Depicting oversight as management, also made us question our name. It feels less like what wedo than a name such as Care and Counsel.

There are many precedents for name changes. The National Congress of American Indians issued a resolution opposing continued usage of Native team names, mascots, and logos. Wikipedia notes that over 70 sports teams have changed their names, including the Eastern Washington Savages who became the Eagles in 1973. Similarly, when Stokely Carmichael coined the phrase “black power” in 1966, “Negro” was how most black Americans described themselves.

By the mid-1980s even the U.S. Supreme Court had largely substituted black or African American. Many Friends Meetings have changed the name of their Oversight Committees. We hope Friends will help us think about this issue and consider changing the UFM bylaws to allow a name change for our committee.

[A draft minute specifically proposing to change the name to Care and Counsel was included with the agenda for this month's Business Meeting; RantWoman does not in the least repent of the part she played in Business Meeting not getting to this item.]

RantWoman opines:
(RantWoman THINKS she is going to maintain enough discipline not to spell out all the reasons she herself could be thoroughly delighted just to call this the "Oops Well" committee right now. RantWoman urges readers, Lead RantWoman not into temptation.)

--Well, gee, it's nice to see this just in time for the White Privilege Conference, but i hope changing the name of Oversight is not the only thing we do to re-examine issues of racism

--Rantwoman definitely unites with the thought of changing our name but HATES "Care and Counsel" for two reasons:

--Confusion with the Care Subcommittee. The Care subcommittee (of what is now known as Oversight) helps arrange committees of support for Friends with individual specific needs. Rantwoman means to write more of this topic elsewhere.

--Counsel implies more training and perspicacity than the Nominating process at our Meeting by itself generates. Pretty much does not matter what words might come with Counsel;RantWoman does not like the word Counsel because it sets up unrealistic expectations. One nearby Meeting calls this committee Community Spiritual Life, a name RantWoman is not crazy about but it works for them.

--RantWoman thinks "Care and Counsel" promises way more than can be assured. Precisely because RantWoman is prepared to live with people doing their best in Faith, Rantwoman really likes the thought of Community,Faith and Discipline committee. (Okay, this first came to RantWoman as the Faith, Community, and Discipline Committee. Can anyone see the phonetically infelicitous acronym that results?)

But the most important point: RantWoman wants the whole community, not just the soon-to-be-renamed committee to grapple with the theology and historical associations of the different words. Can you say "Word nerd?" Hold RantWoman in the Light while she tries to stay centered about this. In any case, the Friend presenting is not available until the June business meeting.