Rename Your Poison!
The Providence Journal leads today with this story on the effort to change the state's name from Rhode Island and Providence Plantations to just plain Rhode Island, because the word "plantation" is just to slavery-ish. It's not as though we added the word to the state's name just to say "screw you" to blacks, the way the states of Mississippi and Georgia did when they added Confederate battle flags to their state flags. Back in the 17th century when it was first used, "plantation" was just a classy way to say colony.
I think that if we're going to go to all the trouble of holding a public referendum on a name change, we ought to change the name to something snappy, like "Baja Massachusetts" or "Little Connecticut" or "Aquidneck Island and Some Other Places". Or we could take a leaf from Family Guy and rename the state Quahog, which would have the advantage of leaving us alphabetically where we are now, between Pennsylvania and South Carolina.
And so, to name change proponents, I say: give me some interesting choices, or don't bother.
I think that if we're going to go to all the trouble of holding a public referendum on a name change, we ought to change the name to something snappy, like "Baja Massachusetts" or "Little Connecticut" or "Aquidneck Island and Some Other Places". Or we could take a leaf from Family Guy and rename the state Quahog, which would have the advantage of leaving us alphabetically where we are now, between Pennsylvania and South Carolina.
And so, to name change proponents, I say: give me some interesting choices, or don't bother.
4 comments:
The best thing we could do, if we are on the subject, is to just rename the state "Massachusetts." It's a great state with a world-class city, some really great public schools, and same-sex marriage, to name just a few of its attributes that are not shared by our perhaps beloved, but frankly parochial and third-class state.
I would vote for Massachusetts.
I read an interesting opinion piece on the name change here:
http://onthebutton.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/rhode-island-renaming/
i think some people are misinterpreting the word 'plantation' here...
Thanks for the article! Although I belive the poster was in error when he assigned R.I. a peripheral role in triangular trade.
And yes, I agree, often those with a poor sense of history mistranslate "plantation" in regards to here. How many even know that Rhode Island is actually Aquidneck Island- Newport?
Still in all, if so many find the word offensive- and with good reason, it would not cost us very much to eliminate a long name which most residents don't even know they we have.
Thanks for writing!
How about becoming part of N.Y.? Many think that we are anyway.
Eileenland- works for me!
Post a Comment