Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Council Decides to Rename Black Boy Lane
Following my consideration on the origins of West Green's Black Boy name back in the summer, Haringey Council has decided to rename Black Boy Lane in West Green.
The Council have called the exercise a 'renaming consultation', but the online questionnaire offers only the ability to choose from a shortlist of two new names. So it appears that the decision to rename has already been taken with only the choice of name left to be decided.
They have issued the following press release.
The council has launched a renaming consultation with residents and businesses located on Black Boy Lane, as part of the wider Review on Monuments, Buildings, Place and Street Names in Haringey – which was launched on 12 June 2020, in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
The council believes that the names of our monuments, buildings, places and streets must reflect the values and diversity that we are so proud of in the borough. One of the street names that has been identified as not being reflective of this is Black Boy Lane.
Meanings change over time, and the term “Black Boy” is now most commonly used as a derogatory name for African heritage men.
As part of the consultation, the council is asking residents to consider new alternative names that celebrate some of the borough’s most notable influencers, and truly reflect the borough’s rich heritage.
The two names that have been shortlisted for residents to consider are, ‘Jocelyn Barrow Lane’ and ‘La Rose Lane’. The consultation will launch today, Monday 28 September and will run for a period of 4 weeks to Monday 26 October 2020.
Letters will be arriving on Black Boy Lane residents' doorsteps this week, who can respond to the consultation using one of the following methods:
- Online: www.haringey.gov.uk/renaming-black-boy-lane.
- Email:
- bblconsultation@haringey.gov.uk
- Telephone: 020 8489 3797
- By post: Consultation Co-ordinator, The Communications Team, River Park House, 225 High Road, Wood Green, London, N22 8HQ
If Haringey residents have concerns or queries about place, street or building names in the borough, please get in touch. Send your views to Leader@haringey.gov.uk.
Bios:Dame Jocelyn Anita Barrow (15 April 1929 – 9 April 2020) was a Barbadian/Trinidadian British educator, community activist and politician, who was the Director for UK Development at Focus Consultancy Ltd. She was the first Black woman to be a governor of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and was founder and Deputy Chair of the Broadcasting Standards Council.
John La Rose was a publisher, poet and essayist. He founded the Caribbean Artists’ Movement and publishing company New Beacon Books which has a bookshop in Stroud Green. In 1975, he co-founded the Black Parents Movement from the core of the parents involved in the George Padmore Supplementary School incident in which a young Black schoolboy was beaten up by the police outside his school in Haringey.
If you'd like to respond to this post, please consider the sensitivities around the issues before you commit finger to keyboard. Any responses that are not in line with our house rules will be deleted.
Tags for Forum Posts: blackboy lane name change, review on monuments, building place and street names
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Colinloves on
-
pretty sure thats just what BLM are fighting against
-
Permalink Reply by maggie on
-
I totally disagree.
History constantly needs reviewing as it is based on the stories written by the victors.
According to the history I learnt at school there were only Kings, Queens and nobility living in England in past times with no mention of working people let alone the stories of women's lives. We learnt that the British Empire inevitably brought benefits to all, the colonialists and the colonised, but we did not learn that Britain's wealth came from dominating and exploiting other people. We did not learn that the peoples we colonised actually had their own civilisations before we arrived on their shores.
History is not one fixed, immutable truth; our understanding of what went before is richer when it includes all our stories with all their complexities and contradictions.
-
Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
-
Precisely Maggie. History at school featured a map of the world with a third of it pink. I was taught what we as a nation had, but never taught how we got it - rather that we were a “civilising” nation, welcomed by happy indigenous people. We were taught nothing about how we became the richest country in the world and the mess we left countries in as we drew lines of partition. The closest we got to history as it impacted ordinary people was the invention of the Spinning Jenny! I knew the dates of the Plantagenet monarchs, the voyages of Raleigh and the Reform of the Corn Laws but never the human cost of where we are today
-
-
History is written by the conqueror according to the narrative they wish to disseminate.
Yes, in first form history in Trinidad I learned about......the Romans and the Greeks!
Then we learned that Columbus 'discovered' the West Indies. Although, when the Europeans arrived, there were already people living in the isands and on the American continent. So you wondered how that could be! The myth about Europe bringing civilisation to those parts is still being disseminated too.
There is much progress to be made.
I like the fact however that we have a street in Haringey that refers to the fact that the future King was part black and that pubs were named to highlight that! I find that to change the name would absolutely eliminate the fact that Archie isn't the first mixed Royal.
I don't believe in royalty by the way.
-
-
And what has that got to do with changing a name of a street? You say that it’s important to read and review history, so surely leaving the name of a street can be a tool to remembering, reviewing and learning from the past. Again I stress that changing a name because a few are offended will not solve the problems of today. There are multitudes of names of streets and buildings which will offend someone in some way so where do we draw the line? In the case of BBL I am waiting to obtain from haringey how many actually are offended by this name
-
-
Nick Eftychiou wrote "And what has that got to do with changing a name of a street?", regarding my post which addressed Patrick Byrnes comment above "Let's avoid the Orwellian idea of constantly rewriting history so that it corresponds with our current view of political correctness - an almost impossible task!" among other things. My post addressed this issue.
-
-
I think and stand by my comments earlier , reading all these comments on here it is divided this community not uniting. The purpose of the name changes was to stamp out discrimination and division and i believe that it has done the opposite. And to Haringey and especially this Haringey Leader, concentrate on dealing with the crime increase, the social inequality which affects all nationalities, the lack of social care funds, the closure of essential services and stop wasting money on a name change which will not make any difference in changing any discrimination or so called racism. Its time to put Political Correctness in the trash where it belongs......
-
-
"It's time to put Political Correctness in the trash where it belongs..." and return to a time when people felt completely free to call others disgusting names because of a difference of skin colour, religion, sex etc.
I disagree.
-
-
Didn't say that though did they, you're literally just making up some bogey man - what will help BAME people more - spending cash renaming a street or spending the same cash and time on social issues?
-
-
My post related to the comment above; it criticises the old trope of "put Political Correctness in the trash". So called 'political correctness' was a valid response to counter the language and actions against certain groups who faced discrimination because of ethnicity, religion, sex and gender.
In the seventies and eighties this discrimination was highlighted and challenged leading to many abusive words and phrases becoming unacceptable, I think this was a good thing and is still relevant. It is only in recent years that the political 'right' throw about the phrase " put Political Correctness in the trash" without regard to its origin and the phrase is used to disparage and shut down discussion.
-
-
You've not answered my question - what's the response that should actually be taken - should the road be renamed like BLM calls for across the country, or should the council actually take another stance and try to bring in jobs, opportunities and cash to the same communities?
In this sense, is political correctness over naming actually getting in the way of real change?
It's like watering the flowerbeds whilst the building burns down.
-
-
Hisky0 I made it clear that I was responding to a specific statement posted by Nick Efftychiou "put Political Correctness in the trash". What I respond to and what questions I address in what time happens to be my choice. However your question is not valid from my point of view "should the road be renamed like BLM calls for across the country, or should the council actually take another stance and try to bring in jobs, opportunities and cash to the same communities?" There is no reason why the council cannot address both issues at the same time, they can look at any issues of renaming and also "try to bring in jobs, opportunities and cash to the same communities", these issues are not mutually exclusive.
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
