Councillors in Saint John, N.B., are expected to vote on whether to remove the word “negro” -- long considered to be racist and a relic of the past -- from at least three place names in the city.
Deputy Mayor Shirley McAlary says she’s “100 per cent” behind changing the names.
“It offends you. You feel kind of awful inside I think when you hear that word,” she said.
The New Brunswick Black History Society says the move is long overdue. David Peters, the group’s vice president, says the word has been outdated for decades.
“We started educating ourselves and reading more deeply and researching, and we’re not Spanish -- why is everyone using that word to refer to we the black people,” he told CTV Atlantic.
One of the locations is Negro Point Breakwater, named in 1844, which extends to Partridge Island. The name currently appears on Google Maps.
Ralph Thomas, another member of the Black History Society, says negro is too close to the N-word.
“It’s surprising to be able to go to some of the communities and they’re still saying, ‘You live on ‘N’ Hill,’ and it’s not ‘negro’ that they’re saying,” he said. “It hurts people: it’s derogatory; it’s demeaning.”
If councillors vote to change the location names, Thomas hopes they’ll re-name them for those who have made a contribution to the black community.
One example is Fred Hodges, the civil rights activist and politician, who was the first member of a visible minority to be elected to city council.
“The New Brunswick Black History Society suggests we call it Hodges Point because it would be named after an outstanding black person whose family were black Loyalists,” he said.
With a report from CTV Atlantic’s Mike Cameron
