Cutting 'Providence Plantations' from state name was a mistake | Opinion

Cumberland native Christopher J. Ferguson is a psychologist and psychology professor at Stetson University. He lives in Florida.

In November 2020, during the heightened “racial reckoning” following the death of George Floyd, Rhode Island removed “Providence Plantations” from the official state name. This was a time of such language gestures, even bands such as Lady Antebellum and the Dixie Chicks removed previously inoffensive references to the South from their names. Such gestures appeared to assuage guilt over perceived lingering “systematic racism” in the United States.

In the sobering light of 2024, it’s easier to see this was a mistake. “Systemic racism” turned out to be a moral panic, the “plantations” in the state name had nothing to do with slavery, and neurotic obsessiveness over language may worsen mental health, not improve it.

The United States went through a rapid descent in racial optimism from the Obama presidency through 2020. Exactly why isn’t well understood. Ironically, this occurred despite actual racism in the United States reaching historic lows. In fact, the U.S., along with Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, are among the most racially tolerant countries on earth (and likely in history).

More: Voters axed Plantations from RI's name. Now, it will mostly vanish from the State House.

As for the criminal justice system, evidence clarified race does not predict police shootings or other violent police misconduct. Similarly, race does not determine sentencing or other outcomes in the U.S. criminal justice system for most crimes (very small disparities do exist for drug crimes only). The awkward truth is, to the extent differences exist between ethnic groups in terms of criminal justice outcomes (and Asian Americans, not whites, have the best outcomes), these mirror real differences in crime perpetration. These can likely be rectified by addressing issues such as fatherlessness, education, etc., but we need to be honest about these truths.

Similarly, for economic outcomes, the pattern is complex and does not support “white supremacy” narratives. Asian American women outearn white men according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. My point is not that the United States is an absolute racial utopia, but rather the 2020 narrative of simplistic racial oppression plainly didn’t fit complicated facts.

As for the Providence Plantations, it’s important to remember the plantations in question had nothing to do with slavery. Roger Williams provided the name (the land was bought from the Narragansett Indians), and no slavery was involved.

More recently, the word plantation has become associated with the harsh slavery of the American South. Thus, the word became included in the 2020 language purge. Yet it can be hard to know whether the vocal calls of a minority of upset individuals reflect a societal consensus or an effort to push Orwellian language games. Certainly, the taboo against racial and other identity-based slurs is good. But it’s less clear whether a broader purge of language is helpful.

More: How did Black people immigrate to RI? And why did they settle mostly in Providence?

The best evidence we have is from trigger-warnings, used by universities to shield students from potentially upsetting words or themes. What we know now is that they don’t work and may even backfire, making people more neurotic. I suspect the language purges of 2020, including the change to Rhode Island’s name, are about the same. They do nothing to help actual poor people, and merely increase race-based anxiety.

The best argument for dropping “Providence Plantations” from the state name is that few people used it anyway. Yet this now leaves the state with an awkward official name … most of the state is not actually an island. As for race, the move likely has done more harm than good as performative language games tend to do. In my book "Catastrophe! How Psychology Explains Why Good People Make Bad Situations Worse," I discuss why people make bad decisions when angry or anxious. The Providence Plantations issue is a lesson on the dangers of making decisions during times of heightened emotion.

Rhode Island should return to its original full name and, instead, explore data-based solutions to poverty, fatherlessness, education and homelessness.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Cutting 'Providence Plantations' from state name was a mistake | Opinion