If perception is reality, then it’s time Rhode Island voters make a statement about our forward-thinking state and drop “Plantations” from the official state name.
Ten years ago, we were not willing to do that. In the same 2010 elections that made Lincoln D. Chafee Rhode Island’s first independent governor, 78% of voters rejected eliminating “Providence Plantations” from the state’s official name.
Opposition then highlighted the original intent of the phrase, which is not related to the plantation system that fueled a slave-driven, agrarian society in the South before the Civil War. They pointed to the biblical origins of the word “plantations” and thus the state’s history of religious tolerance.
All fair points that nonetheless fell short of justification then, as now, for one overriding reason: Regardless of original intent, the word is offensive to many people who call Rhode Island home.
Dropping it from the state’s official name is not an example of sacrificing local history to satisfy outside agitators. It’s about listening to the concerns of some of our own neighbors. What’s hurtful to some should be a concern to us all, especially in a state so proud of its history for tolerance.
And with national momentum building for a purging of systemic examples of racism, there’s potential economic danger in lost tourism and investment if Rhode Island gets targeted for stubbornly clinging to a vestige of our history that today is hurtful to some and can be easily misunderstood.
It’s time to let go of a small piece of the past and step toward a more united future.
Using the logic shown in this editorial, I guess we can expect the tourist attraction and living museum, Plimoth Plantation, will change its name to Plymouth Colony.