There is a bill making its way through the government of Rhode Island to change the state's name.
The full name is "Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." The name bears the mark of the history of the state, which merged the settlements (sometimes referred to as "plantations" in those days) of Providence and the island that we now call Aquidneck Island (were Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth are).
I'm not a Rhode Island resident, but I have a strong attachment to the state. I have been employed in Rhode Island, have paid income taxes there, and Maggie is currently employed there. I live fewer than 6 miles from the border, and can probably get there on foot in an hour and a half, although the direct route would require some swimming or flying. I got married in Rhode Island. Some of my favorite restaurants are there. I care when goofy stuff is going on in Rhode Island.
The effort to rename the state has set its sights on the "and Providence Plantations" part. The reason? Apparently because the word "plantation" reminds some people of slavery.
"When I see that word 'plantations,' I start thinking about slavery. I start thinking about the injustices," said Sen. Harold M. Metts, a Providence Democrat and a bill sponsor. "… It's not about guilt. For me, it's about healing." (Providence Journal)
It is important to note that the word "plantation" in this case has absolutely nothing to do with slavery, despite the fact that slave trading did play a part in the history of this region. But it makes Senator Metts "start thinking about slavery." Is that a good enough reason to change the name? I say it is not.
The association of slavery with the word "plantation" in this context is based on a different meaning of the word in a different context. So, any real, continued mental association relies on ignorance. It is my belief that the only proper first response to ignorance is education, not accommodation. We should not indulge, cultivate, perpetuate or wallow in our ignorance. We should seek to dispel it.
I don't imagine that Senator Metts is ignorant of the actual meaning and context of "plantations" in the full name of the state. By now, someone surely has explained to him the history, and he must recognize that his association is an accident. It's at this point that I wonder why anyone would pursue a name change once they understood their error.
It bothers me that, if this eventually goes to the people for a vote, those in favor of the renaming will be trying to convince the population that there is something harmful or upsetting about this coincidence of words. They will rely on more people confusing the original contextual meaning of "Providence Plantations" with their objectionable meaning, and will possibly convince many people that they've been living in a state that has had a name that reinforces or celebrates some aspect of slavery. I find this deplorable, and if you don't believe it will happen in earnest before any vote, here's an example if it just happening seemingly by accident in the title of a news article: " R.I. May End Link To Slavery Past " The title assumes that the name is a link to slavery, and many reasonable but uninformed people who read it might think that erasing such a link is an easy decision. Well-meaning ignorance will not help us reach a more enlightened period.
Retreating from the name is a declaration that there has been something wrong with the name all this time, and there has not been.
Some have also pointed out that the name of the state appears not only in official state documents but also in the Constitution of the United States of America. Are there legal repercussions of changing the name? Should the constitution itself be changed if the language misunderstanding is so objectionable?
What should Rhode Island do instead?
Educate on the contextual meaning of the state's full name. This much should be obvious.
Educate about the actual role of slaves in Rhode Island. We should not forget or ignore the past. Not only should we acknowledge where slaves were a part of the building of this state, we should remember what the growth of the colony meant for the previous settlers of the area and what effect it had on them. Remembering the past should help inform our actions in the present and future.
Educate on the Rhode Island's legacy of freedom. In June of 1774, Rhode Island became the first colony to ban slavery when the general assembly prohibited the importation of slaves. That's a legacy of freedom in Rhode Island. Rhode Island is also known for the religious liberty that its founder Roger Williams sought for the people.
Seek to right present day injustices and imbalances of freedom. If present-day Ocean State legislators are looking to make their mark on freedom and liberty, if they want to help a minority that is currently suffering under laws that make them unequal, why not work to make same-sex marriages legal in their state?
In short:
If the focus of legislators is really on healing, and there is agita over the actual involvement of Rhode Island in the history of slavery, it should be countered by making it clear how Rhode Island has distinguished itself on the issue of slavery since then, rather than with empty gestures of renaming where none is warranted by meaning and sense. Remember the past so that the future can be better. In the legislature, attention should be focused on present-day injustices.
Posted by James at July 6, 2009 8:43 AMI absolutely agree. When I hear the legislators in favor of this bill speak, I hear a strain of reactionary ignorance that seems too common. You put it perfectly, "the only proper first response to ignorance is education, not accommodation."
Posted by: Bil at July 6, 2009 9:36 AMHas anyone complained that "commonwealth" (Commonwealth of Virginia, Commonwealth of Kentucky, etc.) reminds them of "communism," and so should be removed from those states' names? That'll show them reds.
Also: "North" and "South." Isn't it time we let that go?
Posted by: PJ at July 6, 2009 11:32 AMI couldn't have said it better myself.
I find it interesting that Mr. Figueroa compares the word "plantations" to a swastika, or that the word somehow holds people back or hurts them.
This word only holds back healing for people who want to be held back. Or people who believe those in leadership positions who tell them it holds them back. I wonder if Almeida, Metts and Figueroa have ever considered that by converting the word "plantations" into a swastika that THEY are holding back minorities much worse than the name of my state.
Not only that, but the thought of somebody trying to legislate what a word should mean to me...it's positively Orwellian.
I can't wait to vote this down.
Posted by: Bull at July 6, 2009 10:44 PMOf course, there's another connection! I have close family who reside in the state.
Posted by: James at July 7, 2009 12:02 AM“When I see that word ‘plantations,’ I start thinking about slavery. I start thinking about the injustices,” said Sen. Harold M. Metts, a Providence Democrat and a bill sponsor.
When I hear a moron quacking out his ass, it makes me want to smack him.
What an ignoramus. Lord deliver us from fools like him. Folks like this give Democrats a bad name.
Posted by: Patti M. at July 7, 2009 6:58 PMExcellent piece and right on target.
This issue reminds me in its reliance on ignorance of the current "tea party" movement which assumes that colonists were objecting to taxes, while ignoring the point that what they objected to was "taxation without representation."
George Washington faced this same kind of ignorance in the Whiskey Rebellion - a rebellion against taxes - and had to tell the rebels then that it wasn't taxes that was the problem, it was the lack of participation in making those taxes.
Of course I usually associate this kind of ignorance with the political right - now we see that the left can be just as ignorant with the "plantation" bit. Ouch.
The fact that this comes from the left worries me, but of course no side is without its flaws.
That's yet another reason we should call out this embarrassing bit of legislative ignorance. The right does a lousy job resisting the urge to give in to this sort of thing, and it's part of why they're out of power across the map. We need government to be better than that.
Posted by: James at July 12, 2009 6:53 AM