In this Monday, June 22, 2020, photo, the seal of the State of Rhode Island decorates a podium as Gov. Gina Raimondo looks on at right during a news conference where she announced that she has signed an executive order to remove the phrase “Providence Plantations” in the state’s formal name from some official documents and executive agency websites in Providence, R.I.
On Nov. 3, 2020, voters will have an opportunity to eliminate the last three words from the official name of the state. The measure’s proponents say the word “plantations” evokes the grim legacy of slavery, even though that wasn’t the connotation when the full name was adopted in 1636. The Black Lives Matter movement isn’t named in any of the 120 statewide ballot measures up for a vote on Nov. 3. But this year’s nationwide protests over police brutality and racial injustice are major factors in the campaigns in several states for measures with distinctive racial themes.
In California, voters will decide whether to allow affirmative action in public hiring, contracting and college admissions — 24 years after Californians approved an initiative outlawing programs that give preference based on race and gender. Elsewhere, the topics include a […]
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