Boston, Massachusetts, Renaming Dudley Square Advisory Question (November 2019)
| Boston Renaming Dudley Square Advisory Question |
|---|
|
| The basics |
| Election date: |
| November 5, 2019 |
| Status: |
 Defeated
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| Topic: |
| City governance |
| Related articles |
| City governance on the ballot November 5, 2019 ballot measures in Massachusetts Suffolk County, Massachusetts ballot measures Local advisory vote on the ballot |
| See also |
| Boston, Massachusetts |
A nonbinding advisory question proposing to change the name of Dudley Square to Nubian Square was on the ballot for Boston voters in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, on November 5, 2019. It was defeated.
| A yes vote was a vote in favor of advising that Dudley Square be renamed to Nubian Square. |
| A no vote was a vote against advising that Dudley Square be renamed to Nubian Square. |
Aftermath
On December 19, 2019, the Public Improvement Commission voted to move forward with changing the name of Dudley Square to Nubian Square. The city said that the change would go into effect immediately.[1]
Election results
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Boston, Massachusetts, Renaming Dudley Square Advisory Question (November 2019) |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 24,224 | 45.70% | ||
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28,787 | 54.30% | ||
Although city-wide the advisory question was defeated, two-thirds of voters in the precincts surrounding Dudley Square voted in favor of the name change.[2]
Text of measure
Ballot question
The ballot question was as follows:[3]
| “ |
Do you support the renaming/changing of the name of Dudley Square to Nubian Square? [4] |
” |
Support
Nubian Square Coalition led the support campaign.[5]
Supporters
- Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley (D)[5]
- Boston City Councilor Kim Janey (Nonpartisan)[5]
- NAACP-Boston[5]
Arguments
- Boston City Councilor, Kim Janey, said, "The residents of Roxbury deserve the right to determine for themselves what they would like to be called."[6]
- Sadiki Kambon, facilitator of the Nubian Square Coalition, said, "Clearly our campaign for Dudley Square/Dudley Station be renamed Nubian Square/Nubian Station respectively is based on human rights logic as we are talking about the Dudley family being documented and certified participants in the brutal and inhumane slave trade."[7]
Opposition
If you know of opponents or arguments that should be posted here, email editor@ballotpedia.org.
Arguments
- M.B. Miller, in The Bay State Banner, said the reason for the name change "seems to be that the Dudley family purportedly had slaves. The problem with that rationale is that the Nubians also had slaves. ... Boston became the national base of the antislavery movement. And Massachusetts became the first state to outlaw slavery in its constitution."[8]
Background
History of Dudley Square
Dudley Square was originally named for Thomas Dudley, the second governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, who served from 1634 to 1651. It is located in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.[9]
As of 2017, the neighborhood had the following race demographics:[10]
- African American: 53%
- White: 32%
- Hispanic: 29%
- Asian: 3%
- Other: 4%
Proposed name: Nubian Square
Nubia is an ancient African kingdom that was located in present-day Sudan. The name Nubia originated sometime in the 4th century. Nubian Square was chosen to represent the predominantly African-American community in Dudley Square. The effort to change the name began in 2016.[11][12][5]
The Committee on Governance reported to the Boston City Council that the names Dudley and Nubian have received scrutiny for their respective affiliations to slavery. The committee's report said, "Some comments reflected support of changing the name from Dudley Square but do not support the name change to Nubian Square because of Nubia's ties to slavery."[13]
Path to the ballot
This measure was a nonbinding public opinion advisory question placed on the ballot by a vote of the Boston City Council on September 18, 2019, after receiving a petition from ten Boston registered voters. The process for nonbinding public opinion advisory questions is dictated by Massachusetts General Law. If the governing body of any city or town in Massachusetts does not approve the petition for the ballot prior to 90 days before the election, petitioners can qualify the measure for the ballot by submitting signatures of at least 10 percent of registered voters in the city or town.[14][15]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ CBS Boston, "Dudley Square In Roxbury To Be Re-Named Nubian Square," December 19, 2019
- ↑ Boston Magazine, "It’s Official: Dudley Square Is Now Nubian Square," December 19, 2019
- ↑ City of Boston, "Municipal Election Candidates," accessed October 1, 2019
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Black Community Information Center, "Nubian Square Coalition," accessed October 3, 2019
- ↑ Boston Herald, "Dudley Square or Nubian Square? The question moves to the voters," published September 18, 2019
- ↑ Black Community Information Center, "Nubian Square/ Nubian Station Forever," published April 16, 2018
- ↑ The Bay State Banner, "A misguided effort to rename Dudley Sq. ‘Nubian Sq.’," published February 14, 2018
- ↑ Boston Globe, "A new name for Dudley Square? Voters may get to weigh in this fall," published August 28, 2019
- ↑ Boston Plans, "2017 Report: Neighborhood Profiles," accessed October 9, 2019
- ↑ University of Chicago Museum, "The History of Ancient Nubia," accessed October 3, 2019
- ↑ Boston Herald, "Dudley Square or Nubian Square? The question moves to the voters," published September 18, 2019
- ↑ Boston City Council, "Report of Committee Chair," published September 18, 2019
- ↑ Boston City Council, "Regular City Council Meeting: Minutes," accessed September 30, 2019
- ↑ Commonwealth of Massachusetts, "Massachusetts General Laws I.VIII, Chapter 53," accessed October 9, 2019
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