Controversy
In July 2007, Pennsylvania State Representative Rosita C. Youngblood (Democrat of Philadelphia’s 198th District) called for the renaming of Negro Mountain. In a news release, she said, "Through a school project, my son and granddaughter first informed me of the name of this range and I found it to be disparaging that we have one of our great works of nature named as such… I find it disheartening for tourists who visit this range to see the plaque with the name Negro Mountain displayed on the mountainside."
However, Professor Christopher Bracey, a law professor and associate professor of African and African-American studies at Washington University in St. Louis has said, "I must confess I have a slightly different take on it than … Here we have a mountain, whose name was intended to be a testament to Negro bravery. It seems rather crass and unsophisticated to name it Negro Mountain, but the intentions were strong."
On 1 August 2007, Youngblood and other lawmakers introduced House Resolution No. 378 resolving that the governor "form a commission …to study the naming of Negro Mountain and Mount Davis … adopt names that accurately reflect the history of the region and the heroism displayed by the African American in the Negro Mountain conflict of 1756" and accordingly to alter "brochures, plaques and signs accurately reflect the facts of this heroic historical event". (The 1921 naming of Mount Davis is now also considered controversial because it honors the white settler who once owned the land, rather than the colonial African-American.)
In February 2011, nine Maryland State Senators introduced a bill to rename Negro Mountain and Polish Mountain. All four Western Maryland representatives testified against the proposed bill, which was voted down in committee.
Read more about this topic: Negro Mountain
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