3 mo. ago • 84%

Offensive names dot the American street map − a new app provides a way to track them.

theconversation.com Offensive names dot the American street map − a new app provides a way to track them

A newly released app allows users to search for discriminatory roadway names, helping communities grasp the ubiquity of inequalities embedded in everyday spaces and the harm they cause.

39 comments

My city recently renamed a street after Nelson Hackett, who was a local slave, but more notably, was the first and only escaped slave to have made it to Canada, and then be extradited back to the US. The road was previously named after Archibald Yell, the governor of Arkansas at the time, who wrote the extradition order. Canadian laws at the time forced the government to respect the extradition, but they found this situation so distasteful that they immediately changed the law to basically make Canada a safe haven for escaped slaves.

Lots of locals didn't know who Archibald Yell was, but now they do, and the road is now named after the slave whose case laid the groundwork for the Underground Railroad because of the governor's actions.

Not just a correction to the person who should really be celebrated, but also an S-tier snub, if you ask me.

52
Cool to see that the app is just a nice wrapper to query OSM data and not using yet another dumb silo. Its also just a webapp and not a native app spying on your data. https://en.stnameslab.com/american-search-app/ is the app.

I wonder if this would make sense as a https://mapcomplete.org/ layer

20
It's simple, don't use people's or other names! Use letters and numbers!

San Diego loves 4th and B for example. ruzzia, if you're reading, keep your war away from 4th and B please. Thank you!

Anyway just have all streets start with main and 1st or main and port or whatever. Then the rest of the numbers and the letters in proper order. As an example of how not to do something let's take my current neighborhood near Seattle....You can go to 60th and 61st. Like that's a place. Can you imagine? The utter confusion! Well I guess if you always said the horizontal and then the vertical like in math, that could work. But complicated non the less. So don't add names!..... Martin Luther King please!.... Ehhh is that before or after Est? Does P ave come first? C'mon!

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- If by horizontal and then the vertical you mean X and y, then wouldn’t you state the vertical street and then the horizontal street as those are what define the X and y positions?
  
  2
I like to take the sticks and stones approach.

-9
- It's bullshit, though - words do hurt.
  
  19
  
  Probably why I've hardened myself to the point where I'm basically emotionless. Society does not ever play nice.
  
  -3
  
  Words hurt exactly as much as you care what whoever said them thinks of you. This leaves u with 2 cases.
  
  Case 1: your friend whoes opinion u value is saying something hurtful, ask em to stop if they dont u dont have to be there friend or value their opinion.
  
  Case 2: its some rando whoes opinion you dont value. The only reason u would care what they think is if your insecure.
  
  So what is it? Words dont hurt? Your friends arnt actually ur friends? Or are u simply insecure?
  
  -16
- There are words and then there are words backed by the state’s monopoly on violence. It’s harder to move forward when these old ugly names keep things rooted in the past.
  
  9
  
  Yeh, I can acknowledge the difference tbh
  
  4
  
  Name a single word that is backed by the states monopoly on violence.
  
  -8
- While that is a great approach when the words have no weight, ignoring systemic discrimination that perpetuates actual harm is counterproductive.
  
  When a cop calls all black people thugs and criminals, it is something that shouldn't be ignored. When a football team is named the Washington [slurs] it perpetuates racism against native americans in a way that has actual impacts on people. When schools are named after traitors it shows society is fine with elevating their views and ideals.
  
  The importance of words depends on context and blowing off systemic racism permanently installed in public view because they are 'just words' ignores the real harm that those words have. Street signs with derogatory slurs against native people who were the victims of genocide is the equivalent of having slurs used hy the nazis on street signs.
  
  9
- "sticks and stones may break my bones, but NAH NAH NAH NAH, I CAN'T HEAR YOU"
  
  Ignoring racist tradition does nothing to improve society.
  
  1
  
  I have no trust in 'society'. I've been burned countless times. I've already given up.
  
  1

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