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Should the state of Rhode Island change its official name?

The official name is Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, which gives the smallest state in the U.S. the longest name in the U.S. However, the state legislature may remove the Providence Plantations part because it could be a reminder of slavery. One of the legislators claims that the name had nothing to do with slavery, so changing the name isn't necessary:

Last week, the state's Legislature voted overwhelmingly to hold a referendum to drop the words "Providence Plantations" from the state's name. The reason: Critics say it conjures up images of slavery.

That may be so, but the state's name does not refer to the slave trade, says state Rep. Michael Rice, a Democrat who opposes changing the name.

Rice tells Robert Siegel that the official name goes back to the earliest days of the Rhode Island Colonies established in the 1630s and 1640s. Each of these small agricultural colonies reported directly to England; there was no connection between them. This type of governance was called a plantation colony.

Rice, however, acknowledges that Rhode Island didn't have clean hands in the slave trade. Slaves helped build Brown University, and much of the school's original endowment came from slave-trading funds.

"This is a sad part of Rhode Island history, but it, pretty much, antedates, actually, the word 'plantations' within the name of the state," he says.

Rep. Rice is still going to back the referendum, but what do you think? Is changing the state's official name a good idea?

 
posted by L.W. on 07/02/09 at 11:47 AM. [printer version]    Share |

COMMENTS

 

Didn't actually know that was the offical name of Rhode Island. See nothing wrong with plantation being part of the name. When I hear the word plantation, I think cotton farm,not slavery. There hasn't been slaves in the U.S. since 1863 who's alive the it would remind of slavery? Can't change history, there were slaves in the U.S. Can't get rid of a word just because it might remind someone that there were slaves, you could get rid of half of the dictionary base on that.
I think getting rid of the Island part of the name would be better cause it sure not an island.

posted by BubbaT on 07/02/09 at 02:08 PM

I did not know the official name until a few days ago, and I never understood the Island part, either.

I think that since most people do not know the entire official name of the state, most people didn't care before and may not care now. However, if this is a symbolic gesture to show goodwill towards the black residents of the state, I think it's okay.

posted by L.W. on 07/02/09 at 08:22 PM

I think it's okay, and it would also shorten the name of the state to a more manageable length (and change the official name to the name people actually use--I've never heard the state referred to conversationally as "Rhode Island and Providence Plantations").

posted by Tom Head on 07/03/09 at 12:16 AM

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