PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) ─ Senators unanimously passed a resolution that would allow for a ballot referendum on removing the words “and Providence Plantations” from Rhode Island’s official state name.

The resolution, sponsored by Sen. Harold Metts, comes as anti-racism protests in the wake of the George Floyd killing have revived debate locally on whether the back half of the Ocean State’s legal name — State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations — is racially insensitive due to the association of the word “plantation” with Southern slavery, as well as Rhode Island’s deep involvement in the slave trade.

Rhode Island voters overwhelmingly rejected the name change in a referendum a decade ago, voting 78% to 22% to keep the “Providence Plantations” phrase. Opponents of the measure made the case that the word “plantations” was a reference to local farms in the 1600s, regardless of its modern connotation.

https://www.wpri.com/news/politics/senate-unanimously-approves-resolution-on-removing-providence-plantations-from-ris-official-name/