Century-Old Slur Erased From Santa Monica Mountains Maps

LATimes ^ | February 21, 2010

[Steelfish]

Century-Old Slur Erased From Santa Monica Mountains Maps February 20, 2010

A century-old slur was erased Saturday as authorities ceremoniously renamed a Santa Monica Mountains peak to commemorate a black pioneer who established a homestead at its base in 1880.

What had long been designated on "Negrohead Mountain" on official maps is now "Ballard Mountain" in honor of John Ballard, who worked as a blacksmith and firewood vendor from his 160 acres in the Seminole Springs area.

About 25 of Ballard’s descendants were among a crowd of 90 who watched as a plaque bearing the settler’s name was unveiled near the site of his onetime homestead. It will be permanently placed next to Kanan Road’s north tunnel near the top of the 2,031-foot volcanic peak.

Reggie Ballard, the 85-year-old great-grandson of the pioneer, said he was pleased to see the old name wiped away.

"I don’t know what it means to Los Angeles as a whole but it means a lot to me," said the retired Los Angeles Fire Department captain who now lives in Banning.

"It’s not often you get a chance to right an historical wrong," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who helped nearby residents win approval of the name change with the U.S. Geological Survey. Marcia McNutt, the survey’s director, traveled from Washington to attend the ceremony.

Descendant Christopher Ballard, 19, of Long Beach said he and six others climbed Ballard Mountain, climbing over rocks and carving their own trail through brush. When he reached its peak, he said, it felt like he was on top of the world.

[gitmo]

Is it my imagination, or wasn’t “afro-american” the preferred adjective somewhere in that progression?

[South Dakota]

Maybe South Dakota’s Black Hills should be renamed the “Hills of Color.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>
them’s fightin words

[paulycy]

[TigersEye]

Excellent! These history revisions will soon allow us to deny that anything bad ever happened in America. /s

Be careful what you ask for.

[Rebelbase]

This building in my town on a traditional "black" college campus has me wonder when it's gonna get axed:

[goldfinch]

I am going to take a contrarian position on this one. Negrohead may not be a slur, but it is a cleaned up version of the original name, which was a racial slur. Naming the place after the man, not after his race, is consistent with the conservative ideal of a colorblind society. I think it is the right thing to do.

[Irish Queen]

Shortly after my mother and father married (1940) they traded a bottle of cheap whiskey for a little black dog. They named the dog ‘N....r’. I was five years old when the little dog died. It was my kindergarten teacher who adviced me that N.....r was not a polite name for a person or a pet. On his lath grave marker I wrote in crayon, “My blacke doge”.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

Is ‘negrohead’ a slur?

Maybe like "nappy headed"?

[RedMDer]

I guess Maryland will be next with Negro Montain.

“The Naming of Negro Mountain. Nemesis, a black frontiersman, was killed here while fighting Indians with Maryland frontiersman Thomas Cresap in the 1750s. Legend tells us that he had a premonition of his death. In his honor, they named this mountain after him.”

[RedMDer]

Should have included this.
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=5409

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

Still has the uncensored original name and heading, "Niggerhead Mountain in Los Angeles County, California" at Californiamaps.org.

[fr_freak]

When I was a kid a long time ago we had a hell of alot of fun going to Nigger bar on the American river in Caly. Still call it that even though they changed the name. Screw PC.

Wow. Now it's called Negro Bar, and I was always surprised that even that name didn't get someone's hackles up. This is California after all.

[BunnySlippers]

No, ‘negro” was an acceptable word until just about any word for blacks became “offensive”. Even “niggardly”.

[fr_freak]

“The Naming of Negro Mountain. Nemesis, a black frontiersman, was killed here while fighting Indians with Maryland frontiersman Thomas Cresap in the 1750s. Legend tells us that he had a premonition of his death. In his honor, they named this mountain after him.”

A black man fighting indians? How will the liberals know who to hate?

[jaz.357]

Cant forget this cat, ERRR, Mouse.

[Roccus]

I 68 in MD.

[GSP.FAN]

They are using this article and comments over at DU to show how hateful this site is...
I have still not stopped laughing at some of the comments by freepers..

[jedi150]

Think that the real name is/was Negro bar but all us kids and people living around Orangevale always refered to it as Nigger Bar. Haven’t been back there since my childhood and now live 10K miles from the place in a area that has no PC and doubt they even know what it is.

[Mears]

Your mother-in-law is just fine. If “colored” is good enough for the NAACP it should be good enough for her.

[RedMDer]

“A black man fighting indians? How will the liberals know who to hate? “

That will make their heads explode and that’s fine with me.