Official state documents and websites will no longer contain the words 'Providence Plantations' as part of the state’s name after Gov. Gina Raimondo signed an executive order Monday to remove the phrase from her administration’s communications.
PROVIDENCE — Official state documents and websites will no longer contain the words"Providence Plantations" as part of the state’s name after Gov. Gina RaimondoThe official state name still includes"Providence Plantations," in reference to the mainland colony founded by Roger Williams in 1636. Raimondo said the word’s ties to slavery and the painful images it conjures for Black Americans cannot be ignored.
The action comes after weeks of protests in Providence and other cities around the state and nation over police killings of Black people and systemic racism in America. "There’s so much more that needs to be changed that affects Black people," said Amanda Toussaint, a young Providence-based organizer."They need to defund the police."Jaychele Schenck, a youth organizer and one of the founders of the group Gen Z: We Want to Live, said she and her group members have tried to get a meeting with the governor, but have been unsuccessful.
"It might seem small to the average person, the average non-Black person, but it’s huge in our community," he said. At one point during the news conference, a woman approached the lectern to attempt to cross out the phrase that still appeared on the state seal plastered on its front.
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