• Thurstylark@lemm.ee
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    4 months ago

    My city recently renamed a street after Nelson Hackett, who was a local slave, but more notably, was the first and only escaped slave to have made it to Canada, and then be extradited back to the US. The road was previously named after Archibald Yell, the governor of Arkansas at the time, who wrote the extradition order. Canadian laws at the time forced the government to respect the extradition, but they found this situation so distasteful that they immediately changed the law to basically make Canada a safe haven for escaped slaves.

    Lots of locals didn’t know who Archibald Yell was, but now they do, and the road is now named after the slave whose case laid the groundwork for the Underground Railroad because of the governor’s actions.

    Not just a correction to the person who should really be celebrated, but also an S-tier snub, if you ask me.

  • werefreeatlast@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    It’s simple, don’t use people’s or other names! Use letters and numbers!

    San Diego loves 4th and B for example. ruzzia, if you’re reading, keep your war away from 4th and B please. Thank you!

    Anyway just have all streets start with main and 1st or main and port or whatever. Then the rest of the numbers and the letters in proper order. As an example of how not to do something let’s take my current neighborhood near Seattle…You can go to 60th and 61st. Like that’s a place. Can you imagine? The utter confusion! Well I guess if you always said the horizontal and then the vertical like in math, that could work. But complicated non the less. So don’t add names!.. Martin Luther King please!.. Ehhh is that before or after Est? Does P ave come first? C’mon!

    • Clam_Man@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      If by horizontal and then the vertical you mean X and y, then wouldn’t you state the vertical street and then the horizontal street as those are what define the X and y positions?

      • FiveMacs@lemmy.ca
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        4 months ago

        Probably why I’ve hardened myself to the point where I’m basically emotionless. Society does not ever play nice.

      • Words hurt exactly as much as you care what whoever said them thinks of you. This leaves u with 2 cases.

        Case 1: your friend whoes opinion u value is saying something hurtful, ask em to stop if they dont u dont have to be there friend or value their opinion.

        Case 2: its some rando whoes opinion you dont value. The only reason u would care what they think is if your insecure.

        So what is it? Words dont hurt? Your friends arnt actually ur friends? Or are u simply insecure?

        • samus12345@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          You’re forgetting about words that come from society as a whole. Those are a hell of a lot harder to disregard than ones made by an individual.

        • Arkouda@lemmy.ca
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          4 months ago

          You should work on your spelling and grammar before acting like an authority.

            • Arkouda@lemmy.ca
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              4 months ago

              Never claimed to be an authority. And being a grammar Nazi isnt an argument based in logic, its sidestepping any substance for the sole purpise of being a right old cunt.

              It is not “being a grammar nazi” to point out your complete lack of ability regarding the English language. That is what is commonly known as an “observation”. If you want to be observed differently change what is observable.

              As an example, you observe me as “a right old cunt” and I am doing nothing to change that observation. In fact, it was my intent from go to be observed that way by you.

              Thank the gods you rolled higher in perception than you did in intelligence or you may not have caught on so quickly.

    • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      There are words and then there are words backed by the state’s monopoly on violence. It’s harder to move forward when these old ugly names keep things rooted in the past.

    • snooggums@midwest.social
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      4 months ago

      While that is a great approach when the words have no weight, ignoring systemic discrimination that perpetuates actual harm is counterproductive.

      When a cop calls all black people thugs and criminals, it is something that shouldn’t be ignored. When a football team is named the Washington [slurs] it perpetuates racism against native americans in a way that has actual impacts on people. When schools are named after traitors it shows society is fine with elevating their views and ideals.

      The importance of words depends on context and blowing off systemic racism permanently installed in public view because they are ‘just words’ ignores the real harm that those words have. Street signs with derogatory slurs against native people who were the victims of genocide is the equivalent of having slurs used hy the nazis on street signs.

    • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      “sticks and stones may break my bones, but NAH NAH NAH NAH, I CAN’T HEAR YOU”

      Ignoring racist tradition does nothing to improve society.

      • FiveMacs@lemmy.ca
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        4 months ago

        I have no trust in ‘society’. I’ve been burned countless times. I’ve already given up.