What's In A Name?
Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2020 4:09 am
California wrestles with whether to change Negro Bar State Park's name
Offensive or historically significant?
By Mike Moffitt, SFGATE Updated 12:45 pm PDT, Tuesday, June 23, 2020
But a name change may be in the works nonetheless.
In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement that has called out monuments, landmarks and other symbols of racial injustice, the California State Parks system is again considering renaming the park, according to the Sacramento Bee. Before any change is approved, the parks director will hear from the public, Black community leaders and historians.
Negro Bar was originally a large gravel bar on the south side the American River named for the African American gold miners who discovered gold there during the 1849 California Gold Rush. For a few years, it rewarded the prospectors with a steady yield of coarse gold dust.
The settlement was not called "Negro Bar," but rather "(N-word) Bar” well into the 20th century. Sometime in the late 1920s to early '30s, the San Francisco Chronicle apparently decided to stop using the racist term in favor of "Negro Bar” when referring to it in articles.
According to U.S. Board on Geographic Names, the slur version continued to be used on at least some maps into the 1960s.
When SFGATE asked California State Parks officials in 2017 about a possible name change, spokesman Jorge Moreno replied that the park system previously consulted the Juneteenth Celebration and the past president of the Sacramento African American Historical and Cultural Society about the name.
"The Society's Juneteenth celebration focused on the forgotten history of African Americans along the American River during the Gold Rush era," Jorge Moreno wrote in an email. "The Society was clear that Negro Bar is very significant and that the name should not be changed.
"Many feel that a name change would reduce the cultural significance and important contribution that African Americans made in the region."
In September 2018, Stockton resident Phaedra Jones started a petition to rename Negro Bar that has since collected more than 67,000 signatures. She began the drive after noticing a sign for “Negro Bar Picnic Area” while traveling through Folsom.
“When I saw that sign, I IMMEDIATELY felt uncomfortable, my stomach started hurting, I rolled up my windows and made sure I looked in my mirrors every 10 seconds. I couldn't wait to find the nearest freeway out of that town,” Jones wrote in the post for the petition.
Terrance Walker, a Black man, wrote the following on the park's Facebook page in 2017: "Stumbled on Negro Bar. I guess it's better than stumbling upon a Whites-only bar. ... Not a bad spot though."
