‘A Reminder of our nation’s racist past’: Rhode Island to hold referendum on changing state’s official name due to slavey connection

‘The pain this association causes to some of our residents should be of concern to all Rhode Islanders’

Protesters rally on the steps of the State House in Rhode Island calling for an end to Police injustice (AFP via Getty Images)

Rhode Island has started the process of changing its full, official name from “The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations”, due to its connection to slavery.

The state’s governor, Gina Raimondo, signed an executive order on Monday to shorten the name to it’s colloquial title “Rhode Island” on government documents, CBS News reported.

The state’s legislature is also putting forward a bill to alter the name entirely for a referendum, after the state’s only black senator, Harold Metts, introduced the bill.

“Whatever the history of the term is in Rhode Island, it is an unnecessary and painful reminder of our nation’s racist past,” Mr Metts, who traces his lineage on his mother’s side to the Speck Plantation near Charlottesville, Virginia, said in a statement.

“It is a hurtful term to so many of us.”

The executive order will shorten the name on official communications from the governor’s office such as executive orders and citations and on the state’s website.

“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,” Ms Raimondo said in the order.

“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.”

For the state’s official name to be permanently changed voters will need to vote to amend the Rhode Island Constitution in November.

The name change was previously put to a vote in 2010, with 78% of state voters opposing the removal of the “Providence Plantations” title, CBS News reported.

Mr Metts said he has renewed hope that there has been a change in attitudes not only in the last decade but in the last few weeks.

“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,” he said.

The state has seen continued civil unrest in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis after a white police officer pinned him to the ground by his neck for a prolonged period of time.

The unnecessary death of Floyd and other black Americans including Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, has catalysed protests across all 50 states against police brutality against black Americans, systemic racism, and racial discrimination, forcing state leaders to re-examine police structures and cultural values.

“Rhode Island was founded on the principles of acceptance and tolerance, and our state’s name – and actions – should reflect those values,” Ms Raimondo tweeted on Monday.