Raimondo to sign executive order removing ‘Providence Plantations’ from official documents

WPRI, CBS 12, Providence Plantations ^ | Jun 22, 2020 09:50 AM EDT | Melanie DaSilva

[Olog-hai]

The smallest state in the country has the longest name, and it’s not sitting well with some.

Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo announced plans to sign an executive order Monday afternoon to remove the phrase “Providence Plantations” from all gubernatorial orders and citations, executive agency websites, official correspondence, and state employee pay stubs.

“Our work to dismantle systemic racism in Rhode Island did not start today and it will not end today, but we can rise together and make meaningful progress toward racial equity now,” Raimondo said.

Officially, Rhode Island was established as “The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” when it declared statehood in 1790. Now, those against the official state name say the plantations reference evokes the legacy of slavery.

“Rhode Island was founded on the principles of acceptance and tolerance, and our state’s name, and actions, should reflect those values,” Raimondo continued. “The steps I am announcing today are just the beginning, and I am fully committed to continuing to work alongside the community in stamping out individual and institutional racism in our state.”

Changing the name would require a constitutional amendment and Raimondo suggested a referendum should go before voters in November. …

[hanamizu]

So, if there were no slaves in the colony/state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations why does the Providence Plantations have to go? Is it based on an assumption that some people who might be offended are too ignorant of the state’s history to know better? And what does that say about the people who want the words removed?

Do Spanish speakers need to change their word for the color black because it may cause discomfort to the ignorant? And how about that large river in West Africa and the two nations named for it?

[DUMBGRUNT]

Stupidity rules the day. What’s next the word farm?

There is no end and no rules for the made-up BS.

It will go on to infinity and beyond...
Said Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.

[BwanaNdege]

So now they will just be:

“The State of Rhode Island and... Confusion”.

[elbook]

.

Time to send such panderers home.

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[Albion Wilde]

At the time of naming, the word “plantation” did not necessarily mean or involve slave labor. I recall the word being used to describe the movement of a large group of Scottish people over to the territory now known as Northern Ireland in the 17th or 18th century.

[foreverfree]

Bump

[Impy]

And it failed spectacularly (the margin surprised the hell out of me at the time). I doubt they will take no for an answer this time. Even if the next referendum loses they will never make mention of Providence Plantations in any official way they can get around as the Governor’s exec order has already done.

This is worse than going after poor Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben.

[AuH2ORepublican]

When I read that RI was shortening its name, I had assumed that they had done it legally, not in an end run around the state constitution. I also was unaware that, as recently as 2010, 78% of Rhode Islanders supported slavery—that’s the implication of Gov. Raimondo’s statements, n’est pas?

I think that, given her opinion, Raimondo should have announced her support for the new referendum, and vowed to shorten the name in state checks, letterheads, etc. (even before the old checks and letterheads run out) *once the voters have approved the change*. But this is lawlessness, not to mention wastefulness at a time in which state governments shouldn’t be looking for new ways to spend money unnecessarily.

But Raimondo’s actions and statements on the issue of RI’s name are only the second dumbest that I’ve heard from a governor of the state. When the issue came up in 2010, ultimately successful gubernatorial candidate Lincoln Chafee expressed concern that changing the state’s name *might violate the U.S. Constitution* because it listed RI by its full, official name. How someone that stupid could be elected to the U.S. Senate and to the governorship is a testament to how the constitutional prohibition on titles of nobility does not prevent voters from electing people based on their father’s attributes.

[BillyBoy]

The "Providence Plantations" thing certainly SOUNDS like kind of slavery terminology, but its like when they got their panties in a bunch over the word "niggardly" because it SOUNDS like an anti-black slur, when it reality the word just meant "cheapskate or miserly" and no connection to the anti-black slur aside from very similar spelling. I googled it, wondering if slavery was ever even in a thing in Rhode Island, give how far removed the state is from the antebellum culture of the deep south. A brief online search says Rhode Island had slavery during its colonial era, but very quickly abolished the slave trade in the revolutionary war era after it became an American state. Nevertheless, people were still allowed to keep the slaves they already had, and there was a small amount of slave owners despite repeated anti-slavery laws being passed. They only had four slaves left in the whole state by the 1840 census. Finally, in Rhode Island's 1843 constitution, slavery was permanently made illegal.

If the Governor is going to change the name of the state by Executive Order, she might as well go the full hog and rename it "State of Rhode & Narragansett Bay Islands", give that the vast majority of Rhode "Island" is on the U.S. MAINLAND and isn't a freakin' island.

Or better yet, take the suggestion from the Jim Carrey movie "Me, Myself & Irene" and rename it DISTRICT of Rhode Island, demoting those commies down to being a region within a much bigger state. They can have Massachusetts' Senators or something. ;-)

[BillyBoy]

>> We were founded about 270 years ago by a bunch of Protestant zealots who couldn’t get along with the fine folks in Massachusetts. Roger Williams being one of them. Our first Governor while being a Baptist minister. (Take that for separation of church and state.) <<

Wow. Very interesting backstory from an RI FReeper. Really ironic the state was "founded by a bunch of Protestant zealots who couldn’t get along", as I believe the current demographics show RI has the highest percentage of Catholics in all 50 states (mainly due to RI also having a huge percentage of its population with Italian ancestry, and of course many of those "Catholics" are non-practicing and secular)

Nevertheless, that would be one of the MANY reasons why the colonial era RI founders would appalled at what's currently going on in the state.

[Olog-hai]

Well, if “niggard” is such a problem, remember when “homophone” was mistaken for an anti-homosexual slur?

[Impy]

I didn’t know he said that! He truly earned his nickname of “Missing Linc”. Missing his brain!

[LS]

What’s interesting about the colonies and early states were that they ALL had a distinct religious flavor: VA Anglican, RI Baptist, MA Puritan, PA Quaker, NC Presbyterian.

They all believed in “separation of church from the FEDERAL state,” not the state itself.

[AuH2ORepublican]

In addition to Italians, Rhode Island also has a large Portuguese (including Azorean) population, although I believe not as large as in the New Bedford area of Massachusetts.

[BillyBoy]

Like a lot of New England, RI probably also has a large Irish-American population, which also contributes to the number of overall “Catholics” in the state.

[Mears]

Lots of Portuguese in RI and MA......Catholics.

.

[BillyBoy]

Gotta admit I love the fact "Linc Chaffee" (I think his RINO daddy said he named him after Abraham Lincoln) is now a washed up politician. Last I heard he tried to get the Libertarian nomination for President (he's now been a RINO, Independent, RAT, AND Libertarian) and was (quite justifiably) laughed out the door.

Given how far left the state has gone, they actually have some decent politicians, the most recent being Don Carcieri. I wish Stephen Laffey would make a comeback, he is still politically active in the private sector. The fools who voted for Chaffee over Laffey in the primary because Missing Linc was "electable" no doubt have buyers remorse over that.

Interesting trivia: Chaffee's successor in the Senate, Sheldon Whitehouse, is one of the FEW RATS who is on record OPPOSING Statehood for D.C. So "moderate" Chaffee might have been even worse than Whitehouse!

[AuH2ORepublican]

Yes, John Chafee named his son (who he didn’t know would grow up to be an idiot) after Abraham Lincoln. So did Lincoln Díaz-Balart’s dad (in pre-Castro Cuba).

Here’s some Cubs-related trivia for you: The full name of pitcher Ted Lilly was Theodore Roosevelt Lilly III.