A couple of weeks ago, University President Lawrence S. Bacow convened a committee to articulate “general principles” for renaming spaces, programs, and professorships that are connected to “abhorrent” activities at Harvard. At a base level, everyone is pleased that President Bacow has taken this necessary and overdue step. Yet, for now, it raises a set of compelling philosophical and procedural questions: What should they rename? And how will they know?

The starting point should be obvious. While the University has numerous stains on its long history, slavery and scientific racism remain the tip of the abhorrence iceberg — from the slave trader who helped found their law school, to Harvard’s ownership of daguerreotypes portraying enslaved individuals. Names affiliated with white supremacy and its atrocities should be the first to go. Then…

 

Residents had until Sunday night to vote in a ranked-choice referendum among six options: L’Azur-des-Cantons, Jeffrey-sur-le-Lac, Larochelle, Phénix, Trois-Lacs and Val-des-Sources. Val-des-Sources won 51.5 per cent on the third ballot.

Asbestos, a town of over 7,000 in the Eastern Townships, was once known mainly for the large Jeffrey mine that extracted the toxic mineral, but it chose to rebrand as the name was seen as an impediment to foreign investment.

The town had proposed a list of four new names in September, but criticism of that list led to a new one with six names announced earlier this month.

There were 2,796 ballots counted in total, Mayor Hugues Grimard announced in a special meeting broadcast on Facebook.

One of the country’s most famous landmarks probably will keep its name, despite a recent attempt to rename it. A California resident in July 2020 proposed renaming Mount Rushmore to Igmu Tanka Paha, a Lakota Sioux name that means Cougar Mountain, according to the federal Board on Geographic Names.

Anyone can submit a proposal to rename a geographic feature, but the board tends to be conservative when considering such requests, said Jennifer Runyon, a senior researcher with the board. A national landmark like Mount Rushmore introduces additional complications, and a name change would likely require overwhelming public support.  Additionally, the board only has the power to rename the mountain itself — not the national monument that shares its name.

The discussion about changing street and station names in Berlin is not new, but the new racism debate triggered by the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota seems to be speeding things up. Two renamings are imminent.

Earlier this month, inhabitants of Wissmannstrasse in Berlin’s Neukölln district received leaflets with interesting content. It included an announcement according to which “Wissmannstrasse will be renamed”. Residents are supposed to hand in suggestions for a new name. The idea of renaming the street next to Hasenheide park is old. And there is a good reason: Hermann von Wissmann, whom the street was named after and who lived from 1853 to 1905, was the “colonial administrator” of ‘German East Africa’. His job title sounds good, but what he actually did does not.

Read here

After George Floyd, an African American, was killed during a police arrest in Minneapolis, United States, many people protested, in the United States and internationally. During the course of these protests, many controversial monuments and memorials were vandalized or toppled by protestors, prompting those in charge of other similar monuments to remove them from public view.

Similarly, many controversial names, mascots, and other forms of symbolism were changed, due to increasing public pressure or otherwise. In some countries, other race-related and colonial issues were also raised, and some were acted upon. In some cases changes that were planned or under consideration before the protests were expedited consequent to the protests.

The list with over 200 ergonyms (names in public space) may be found and edited on Wikipedia.