Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo signed an executive order on Monday that will change the state’s official name on government documents, shortening it from “The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” to just “Rhode Island” over slavery "connotations".
"Many of the State's residents find it painful that a word so closely associated with slavery should appear in the official name of the State," Raimondo wrote. "The pain that this association causes to some of our residents should be of concern to all Rhode Islanders and we should do everything in our power to ensure that all communities can take pride in our State."
The state’s legislature is also moving forward with a bill that would get a referendum on the name change placed on the ballot in November.
“Whatever the meaning of the term ‘plantations’ in the context of Rhode Island’s history, it carries a horrific connotation when considering the tragic and racist history of our nation,” Harold Metts, Rhode Island’s sole black state senator, said in a statement last week, according to the Providence Journal.
“I urge the voters to approve the name change in November but will take all measures now that are within my control to eliminate the name from my official communications and those of my executive agencies,” the governor said in the order.
With this move, the cancel culture mob has once again shown its historical ignorance.
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The ignorance of the Left knows no bounds. Roger Williams famously founded the Providence Plantations as a refugee from religious persecution in 1636. It had NOTHING to do with the issue of slavery. Imagine if numbskulls like this governor studied history. https://t.co/7R900urva8
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) June 23, 2020
Every 10 yrs someone wants to change the state's name & eliminate Providence Plantations because they didn't learn history. Aquidneck Island is officially Rhode Island. Providence Plantations was individually owned private farms.
— RIRepublicans.us (@RIRepublicans) June 19, 2020
Pols need to stop pandering for a name change. pic.twitter.com/EmbLi7U8q7
Self-loathing idiots. https://t.co/KxCKkvVAM6
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) June 23, 2020
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