Posted on 06/22/2020 10:35:18 AM PDT by Olog-hai
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?
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.
So now they will just be:
“The State of Rhode Island and... Confusion”.
.
Time to send such panderers home.
.
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.
Bump
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.
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.
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. ;-)
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.
Well, if “niggard” is such a problem, remember when “homophone” was mistaken for an anti-homosexual slur?
I didn’t know he said that! He truly earned his nickname of “Missing Linc”. Missing his brain!
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.
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.
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.
Lots of Portuguese in RI and MA......Catholics.
.
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!
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.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.