New law will remove the word ‘squaw’ from California place names
By Kate Randall
Mar 9, 2015
(NaturalNews) After the California Legislature banned the use of “squaw” and “wetback” in place names, some of the biggest names in Hollywood have been eager to help.
For the first time ever, all of California’s official place names will be changed after the passage of State Bill 6, which will remove the words “squaw” and “wetback” from state place names.
“It is a good day for California,” Gov. Jerry Brown said in a statement. “With this historic bill, our state’s names are being returned to their true meanings, as they used to be.”
More than 2,000 California residents attended a rally in front of the state capitol earlier this month and the legislation has been championed by celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, who calls the anti-language bill an attempt by “those who don’t think we should be allowed to use the word’squaw,'” as well as “Wetback” singer Jim James and actor Michael Sheen.
In fact, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is already working to change California’s official place names to avoid the use of the offensive words.
Supervisor Jane Kim will begin introducing a resolution to “amend the California State Legislature to repeal section 2550 of the Health and Safety Code, and replace it with a statement which more accurately describes the name of California as the ‘Land of Golden California.'”
Other potential changes include:
The removal of “Golden Gate” from a state park after a public outcry prompted the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to propose in 2010 to remove the word from the park’s official name.
The removal of “Old Town” from the city of San Francisco. The city now only uses the name “San Francisco” in the official name, not “Old Town” because of a decades-old law that was meant to preserve the Spanish name. The San Francisco City Council voted unanimously to repeal the law, which had been passed in the 1970s and signed by then-Mayor George Moscone.
The removal of the suffix “City” from
