‘Legacy of Racism’: U.S. Officials Move to Change ‘Offensive’ Names of Places—and Fish

Democrats in Washington have introduced a new bill that aims to clear official place names of language deemed racist or offensive. The Reconciliation in Place Names Act was put forward on Friday by Massachusetts Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, as well Texas Representative Al Green, and is co-sponsored by 25 other House Democrats.

If passed, the bill would allow 1,441 specific places in the U.S. to be renamed, as their current names have been flagged as offensive or as specifically containing racial slurs. The list would largely be made up of geographic features, such as forests, bodies of water, and general stretches of nature.

Business Insider reports that roughly 600 of these locations, for example, have the N-word in their names, though it is unknown which of these are on the current proposed list. Other questionably named places flagged by the outlet included slurs for Mexican people and Native American women.

“We need to immediately stop honoring the ugly legacy of racism and bigotry, and that’s why I’m introducing the Reconciliation in Place Names Act with my colleagues,” Warren said in an official statement.

“These terms are harmful relics from the era of invidious yet lawful discrimination that must be removed from public property,” Green added in his own statement. “Racism, even in geography, cannot be tolerated in a country that strives for liberty and justice for all.”

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