Posted on 11/17/2003 1:51:23 AM PST by H8DEMS
Appalled by worldwide news reports that a rural Florida bridge bore the offensive name of a character in Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," a veteran South Florida legislator wants public agencies to check their maps for any racial slurs.
State Sen. Steve Geller, D-Hallandale, filed a bill after seeing a Reuters news report in a South Florida newspaper that said there are 144 places throughout the country with names that use the word "nigger" in some fashion. As an example, the British wire service cited "Nigger Jim Hammock Bridge" in Hendry County, on a two-lane road near Clewiston.
The news story was picked up on several Web sites featuring political commentary.
"It's not the highest priority on my or anybody's agenda, but there is no reason today that anybody ought to have 'Nigger Jim Bridge,'" Geller said. "If there was a 'Long-nosed Jew Highway' somewhere in the state, I'd feel the same."
But some conservatives are worried that a politically correct witch hunt could result from his bill. And the Hendry County manager says he's never heard of a "Nigger Jim Hammock Bridge."
Typing in the pejorative name on the index of the home page of the U.S. Board of Geographic Names, the federal agency cited in the Reuters report, brings up a place map for "Negro Jim Hammock Bridge" and a site map showing a location southwest of Moore Haven.
Roger Payne, executive secretary of the federal board, said it officially changed all such names to "Negro" in 1963 and changed "Jap" to "Japanese" wherever it occurred in U.S. Geological Survey records in 1971. But he said "the records retain the variant or former name" of all 144 places as a secondary reference in federal databanks.
Payne said there are 13 places in Florida with names like "Negro Cove, Negro Island, Negro Camp Island." But he said some might be rooted in the Spanish word for black, rather than referring to a race of people.
Only four of the 13 Florida places in the USGS National Mapping Information site list the pejorative word as an original name - the Hendry County bridge and Negrotown Knoll and Negrotown Marsh, both in Highlands County, and Negro Head, a cape in Lee County.
Geller introduced a bill (SB 444) requiring Secretary of State Glenda Hood to check names of state landmarks for blatantly offensive terms. City and county governments would be required to do the same within their borders.
Geller, who is Jewish, said he doesn't like the name of Jewfish Creek in the Florida Keys. But he said that wouldn't have to be changed because it refers to a long-recognized type of fish and might not be judged offensive by local residents.
"I'm not setting standards here and not trying to change Dixie County or Robert E. Lee Highway somewhere, but I think we can all agree that 'Nigger Jim Bridge' is pretty offensive," Geller said. "I think it would be good for each city and county government, and the state, to revisit the names of roads and bridges or other public places and make sure they are not blatantly outrageous."
'Orwell would be proud'
Mac Watters of Panama City, past state chairman of the League of the South, sees an Orwellian trend in the proposal. The state can't change its history by sanitizing some names, he said, and the "bureaucrats" who try to are often pressured by the most vocal critics.
"I am a dedicated Southerner, and I love my Southern history," said Watters, a construction worker who said he is sometimes offended by things people say about his heritage, "but it just rolls off me."
"You can't even go to a football game now and do an Indian chant because some people think it's going to offend people," he said. "George Orwell would be proud of these bureaucrats. In '1984,' he wrote about government people rewriting history and cleaning it up."
Geller, a Florida State University graduate, said his bill would not affect sports-team names or symbols. Not everyone agrees those names are offensive, he said, and colleges and pro teams arrange legal licensing rights with tribes.
Similarly, he said, his bill would not interfere with names of Jackson, Lee and Leon counties, or the municipal seal of Lake City, which incorporates a Confederate battle flag with some other symbols.
Geller said even a bowdlerized version of the racist word has no place in Florida's official records. He likened the situation to a bill he unsuccessfully sponsored a few years ago, seeking repeal of an archaic law that forbids Asians to own land in Florida.
He said Florida is one of two states with such laws. Although federal courts have struck them down, Geller, a lawyer, said their continued existence in the law books is an affront. Similarly, he said, even place names that are not posted on signs or used in conversation anymore need to be reconsidered in official records.
Lester Baird, county manager in Hendry County, said he had never heard the bridge referred to by the name cited in the Reuters article and USGS secondary references.
"If I knew about it, it would be changed already," Baird said. He said he had lived in the area for seven years.
Geller said he expects the Department of State to oppose his bill because of the work it would impose on short-staffed state, county and city agencies. But Hood said through an aide that the department is undecided.
"The Department of State is currently tracking Senate Bill 444," said Jenny Nash, the department spokeswoman. "However, this bill is still in its infancy, and it would be premature to say whether or not we support it."
Meaning he'd change it to 'Short-nosed Jew Highway', eh???
.
Bad, bad idea, this bill is...
Soon people are going to be offended at the mere mention of color, shape, size or the wrong pronoun.
Terrible. We should change each such name to something like, the "Socialism is Death Bridge." That's not racist and is true to boot. Plus, the new names would provide 144 valuable lessons for the kiddies. Reuters couldn't possibly object.
Good point. Maybe CB could change their name to:
The Homeboy Diner
or,
Redneck Restaurant
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