Yeah, they chopped off a part of the name that wasn't actually written on people's licenses, etc. Hardly anyone even knew that was part of the state's name.

It is for the person who has to change their license and registration (do you like dealing with the RMV?! I really am not looking forward to that part), billing information on everything, leases, and all kinds of other things, all so someone at UMass can benefit no one but add to his resume.

They should put it to a vote of those of us who reside on Plantation Street.

Oh yeah we used to drink beers and have fires behind it from all the pallets and thrown out couches

You think Plantation Street's name - and remember, before the 1800s, farms were called plantations - is the same as a Confederate statue?

I can support this

Whoever is behind this wants to feel good about themselves for when they drive back to Shrewsbury or some other town to attend a planning board hearing to oppose the affordable housing development across town so they don't have to deal with the riff-raff coming in.

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The people behind this likely live in towns that resemble modern day plantations. Large suburban homes sprawling along streets with names like Fox Run, Vista View, Pine Ledge Drive, etc. where half of the residents have hired help that come in from Worcester, Fitchburg, and other areas these do-gooder/do-nothingers would never find themselves in.

Fucking bravo, man. Bravo.

School-to-STEM pipeline - I love that idea! I hope that you'll call into the city council meeting and speak on the things you've said. They're meeting tomo., 6.30!

Who's behind this? Did UMass receive complaints from people about how they were offended by the name of the street or is this one of those situations where some eggheaded higher-ups want to put forth an empty gesture and pat themselves on the back?

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I highly doubt that there are more than a handful of people that care or are somehow hurt by the name of Plantation Street.

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This is one of those instances where an institution of some sort feels the need to create an issue where one never really existed just so they can pontificate and virtue signal.

Sort of like, "Hey, look at this shiny quarter over here..."

Have at it

Wow!! I am curious how good Wachusett Regional High School would be for handling with gifted and talented students? My cousin's son is extremely gifted and talented but he does have mild autism (mostly from lack of social skills, not lack of academics).

Plantations still exist in non racist ways ya know.

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It seems to me that that poster doesn't understand how government works. I see this a lot with conservatives swayed by punditry. The government isn't a corner lemonade stand. It can handle addressing multiple major matters and lesser at the same time!! Magic!!

And I'm glad I'm not the only one to see through this thinly veiled cosmetic attempt at "fixing racism" by doing nothing but making it harder on the current residents of Plantation street (by the way are majority POC and who will be forced to bare the brunt of time/fees to change their address).

Thankfully seems like someone on the council board sees through this too: from the Boston globe

>The Worcester City Council is expected to hear the petition at its weekly meeting Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. From there, it will be referred to the Public Works Committee, which oversees local infrastructure related to streets and public buildings.

>George Russell, chair of the Public Works Committee, called UMass’s petition “not well thought out” and “inconsiderate” to the home and business owners along Plantation Street, which stretches more than 4 miles. Changing the name, Russell said, would require hundreds of people to update their drivers’ licenses, passports, mortgages, and more.

>“It’s one thing if it was a small street, and the people who owned property or rented properties all came together,” Russell said. “It’s almost like asking each one of them to move.”

>Russell said he previously spoke to Anderson and suggested creating an honorary name for the section of the road that runs along campus.

>He said he understands the university’s concerns, but noted that there are likely other parts of Worcester’s history that may be offensive to some and said the city has more pressing issues to address.

>“If you look up the word plantation in the dictionary, there’s no reference to slavery,” Russell said. “I don’t know any history of a plantation or plantations [in Worcester].”

>Plantation Street was the first road built on the Quinsigamond Plantation, a village established by European settlers in the 1600s, according to an account of local history by the City of Worcester. The site was destroyed in King Phillip’s War, a bloody conflict between settlers and native tribes including the Nipmuc, and rebuilt as Worcester, according to the Worcester Memorial Auditorium.

>Russell’s district includes the bottom portion of Plantation Street and all of Plantation Terrace.

So this is someone who actually represents the regular people who live on plantation-named roads. Good! Thankfully they are thinking about their constituents and not a corporate entity telling the city what to do at the expense of "the little people".

It honestly makes me sick that there are people who are wanting to do this without regard for how it will affect the lives of those who live on plantation-named roads. Just so a six-figure paid diversity consultant umass hired can add to their resume that "they helped fight racism" by doing the most minimal effort possible. People throw around the term virtue-signalling way too mich nowadays (like the boy who cried wolf)...but THIS...this is an example of exactly what virtue-signalling is and how it does nothing to actually help real societal issues. Again...who are going to be the ones paying fees for name changes?? Notice UMass isn't coming out to say they'll be forking over all that money to the worcester residents affected!! Who...again are majority POC who live on plantation-named roads. Yeah...."let's put a monetary burden on some POC people on the Worcester community so we can feel smug when we drive home to Northborough". Litterally the opposite of how you help a community fight against racism.

Healthcare please.

Mic drop

I also want to know if they are going to pay for each and every resident along Plantation Street the fees associated with changing their address on governmental forms, like deeds and getting a new issued ID/drivers license?? UMMS wants it so bad, so THEY should be shelling out the $$. If not them...would the city of worcester do it? VERY doubtful. So OF COURSE it will be on the residents of Plantation street.

It goes much farther than just changing a street name, because there are real life issues associated with someone's address being changed. Like I hope the people who live on and own property on Plantation Street go to that council meeting and express how time consuming AND expensive it will be for a major road to be changed because someone decided one morning their CV would look better when they smugly add in that they got "that terrible slavery road" changed in the area under "diversity and inclusion". 100% this is a stunt to make someone's resume look better so they can get promoted or get a better paying job.

There is a whole history of this steet that I've sure the person initating the name change is unaware of. In 1637, the first settlement of Worcester was called the “Village of Quinsigamond” or the “Quinsigamond Plantation.”  Plus...this isn't re-naming a street with an OBVIOUS Jim crow era nod, like "Lynchburg" or "Robert E Lee". I guarantee you that this is coming from someone who does not know Worcester history, doesn't live on Plantation Street, and probably doesn't even live in Worcester.

I am all about equality and equity in the workplace, but this kind of stuff grinds my gears because it it such an obvious attempt at virtue signaling in the worse way. Like smugly saying "I did something"..... without you know....actually putting time and effort doing sonething that acrually helps to fight against implicit bias in the workplace or institutionized racism in the sciences. This is the epitome of lazy I'm-gonna-do-something-but- don't-want-to-put-in-effort PR move to make people feel better about themselves.

Like...how about doing something for the Worcester community that positively affects people... like more UMass outreach into the worcester public schools, which on a whole represent underrepresented minorities, and help these kind of kids in the sciences? You know...like a school-to-STEM pipeline instead of a school-to-prison pipeline? I think that would be MUCH better than slapping a new name on a street and saying "oh racism is fixed!!"...and "welp, it's your problem now with the address change thingy but I SURE DO feel better". Oh wait....but going into the community that entails ACTUAL effort. No no...pressuring the city to change a street name will be just as good and make them feel better about themselves that thet did something for "the POC". When come on.... it's self serving bullshit made to make themselves feel better.

Bruh. You guys ever been to Plantation Street? I feel like there are some other things they can do there that should be higher on the list of priorities.

How does changing a street name really use that much energy or resource? There’s literally no downside to it

Ive said it for years. We need to change it.

Roots and press is my favorite place to get coffee

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And to add..... UMASSMED doesnt pay its post-docs or graduate students well. We all just got a raise because after a review the school realized we were paid so shit that it was actually illegal by MASS equal pay laws and they wanted to get ahead of it before we caught on.

They are paying a consultant/DIG officer at least 100K plus staff for their office and building etc so that they can virtue signal about shit that has no impact on a fucking single person while engaging in some of the worst anti-labor shit. Its a bunch of horse shit.

Before the 1800s, when the name was first applied, a plantation was just some kind of farm-type area. "Plantation" was used before anyone even permanently settled here, so there is absolutely no relation to slavery. That name came into being before the whole Southern plantation system started. We're not talking about Robert E. Lee Road. We're talking about a street whose name can be interpreted as something tangential to slavery if you stop and think about it and if you want to and if you aren't completely honest. It's not a racist street name. It's not a name that anyone has taken issue with. It's some some bureaucrats looking to justify their role at the medical school. Worcester has a Black community that has never raised this as an issue, ever. It took paid (highly paid) diversity consultants to come and tell us our street name is a problem.

You know what was also linked to slavery? Cotton. Shall we get rid of that term as well? Should the school send its consultant to Leominster to demand that they change the name of Cotton Street? Should they go to Sturbridge and demand that the name of the Cotton Mills Dam be changed? I mean, that's more directly related to slavery, since the cotton mill it's named after opened in the antebellum period and, you know, was a cotton mill.