Thursday, August 2, 2018

Genocide Junction

In New York City, street co-namings-in which a thoroughfare takes on an additional, ceremonial name in honor of a distinguished figure-rarely generate much fuss, and their approval is typically pro forma.

A city council committee voted to co-name a street in Brooklyn after Jean-Jacques Dessalines, emperor of Haiti after the island won its independence from France in 1804.

The council's designation of a two-mile stretch of Rogers Avenue in Brooklyn as Jean-Jacques Dessalines Boulevard sparked some controversy because Dessalines was an enthusiastic advocate of racial murder.

In almost every case, New York City street co-namings are reserved for deceased locals who have made a mark on the community.

"Every year," explains the city council website, "Council Members pass bills to co-name streets in honor of residents and organizations that have had an impact on our City's cultural, political, and economic life." In 2017 there were 148 co-namings.

The co-named street list includes no known warlords, self-proclaimed emperors, or foreign genocidaires.

A public design commission, named to review monuments and toponyms across the city, recommended only that a statue of J. Marion Sims be removed from its seat in Central Park, across from the New York Academy of Medicine.

https://www.city-journal.org/html/dessalines-boulevard-16086.html 

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