RI to Vote on Removing Providence Plantations From State’s Name
Friday, July 17, 2020
Rhode Islanders will vote in November whether to remove “and Providence Plantations” from the state’s official name, under legislation approved by the General Assembly Thursday.
The joint resolution allowing voters to act on the question on the ballot is sponsored by Senator Harold Metts and Representative Anastasia Williams.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTIn 2010, voters overwhelmingly rejected changing the name, with 77.9% against to 22.1% in favor.
“The images that come to mind when I hear the word ‘plantations’ are the inhuman and degrading treatment of the African-Americans who came before me, families ripped apart by slave sales, rapes, castrations and lynchings. It is a hurtful term to so many of us. Not unlike the debate over the Confederate flag, retaining the term does nothing to memorialize history but conjures an unnecessary and painful reminder of our racist past, and the injustice and racism that persists to this day,” said Metts, whose own family can be traced back to the Speck Plantation near Charlottesville, Virginia.
“Rhode Island built its economy on being a leader in the slave trade in colonial times. This old, festering wound still needs healing. We aren’t proud of that history, and we must stop glorifying a word that is inescapably associated with that terrible past,” added Metts.
“When you have more than 10,000 Rhode Islanders showing up in a pandemic for a march calling for an end to police brutality and to affirm that Black Lives Matter, we can take this ugly, painful word out of the name of our beautiful state,” said Williams. “We have genuine work ahead of us to bring about true equality and justice for all. We are collectively taking this step as an inclusive symbol to demonstrate that we are all Rhode Islanders. Period.”
Both the General Assembly and the governor announced last month that they would remove the phrase from official legislative and executive-branch documents in recognition of its painful connotation.
The ballot question will make the change official in the state’s constitution if approved by a simple majority of voters statewide in November’s election.
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