What Is No Longer In A Name: Rhode Island Official Docs Shed Racially Loaded Moniker
Officially, the tiniest state's name remains Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. But the governor jettisoned the latter phrase from state documents, with a vote on it likely to follow.
The official name of the smallest U.S. state is Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Some of its residents have been trying for the past three decades to drop the phrase "and Providence Plantations," which they consider an offensive reminder of the state's once-dominant role in the trade of enslaved Africans.
That name-changing drive got a boost on Monday. Spurred by weeks of local protests over the death of
