The historic living area of Negro Bar on Lake Folsom will be renamed, the California State Park and Recreation Committee voted unanimously on Friday.
The area, which consists of a large sandy strip between Folsom and the American River, as well as the opposite bank of the river, will be temporarily called the Black Miners Bar, while more in-depth historical research efforts are underway to announce a new name.
The decision, which comes just a day before the June 16th celebration planned on the spot, follows four years of public disclosure by the commission, as well as several years of public advocacy and online petitions to change the name.
Public commentators, all of whom broadly supported changing the park’s name, shared passionately how the name made them and their friends feel scared, hurt or unwanted.
Ruth Anderson, a longtime Folsom resident, said she always avoided visiting family and friends, especially her black daughter-in-law and grandchildren of various races, near or near a Negro bar for fear of how it might make them feel. .
“I am embarrassed as an American that this name is still in line with our state park,” she said, adding that she was looking forward to the day when she could take her grandchildren not only to play on the lake, but also to learn about the story of the black miners.
Tracy Stafford, vice president of the Black Caucus of the Democratic Party of California, said she was “absolutely annoyed” to hear the word nigger so many times during a public meeting and did not expect such a deep reaction to the word.
“It’s not right,” she said. “I’m sure I’m not the only person involved in this room. If you can’t tell me, it shouldn’t be in a monument, it shouldn’t be all over town, it shouldn’t be somewhere we take our kids without explaining what that means.
Education and the focus on the history of black gold miners in the area should be expressed in the park in the future, several commentators said.
In a staff report on the agenda item, park officials called the Negro bar area – a name that appears on campsite signs, maps and marketing materials in the predominantly white Folsom neighborhood – “one of the park’s long-standing problems with the naming of the facilities. “
“Over the years, a number of stakeholders have discussed this particular name of the facility and suggested changing and / or maintaining the name,” it said. “Those who support the change, calling ‘nigger’ a dated, derogatory term, and others in opposition, are worried about the potential loss of recognition that the name provides to the African-American presence and participation in the California Gold Rush in this area.
The name, which first appeared in a newspaper article in 1850, was originally chosen in honor of the California Gold Rush miners of 1849. But the area has been consistently denoted by racist terms for decades, including in The Chronicle and other newspapers. In 1960, the federal government issued a request to the U.S. Geographical Names Council to change all uses of the offensive term “nigger” on federal maps.
The issue of naming has been raised by the Parks Department before – in 1999 the department decided not to change the name. In 2018, an online petition launched by Phaedra Jones, a Stockton-based Uber Eats driver who encountered the sign while driving, brought the issue back to the forefront and the Parks Department launched a “numerous promotion effort” to gather information. and options for new names.
In 2020, these efforts intensified and stakeholder meetings began.
During stakeholder meetings in April 2021, a majority of those present recommended a name change, according to a staff report written by Deputy Director of Planning and Recreation Alex Stel, and a follow-up study found the same.
At Friday’s meeting, the committee voted on three recommendations set out in the staff report.
The report recommends that the name be temporarily changed to the Black Miners Bar Day-Use Area, an action it says will address the immediate concern for the damage of the current name, while preserving the historical significance of the area.
It also calls for the department to undergo a one-year “intensive historical research effort” in partnership with the California African-American Museum to come up with a research-supported recommendation for a permanent renaming. Third, it also obliges the department to use the research to build more historical programs to be put in place to commemorate the “significant contribution” of Blacks during the Gold Rush.
Commissioners voted to take all three actions.
Susan D. Anderson, CAAM’s history curator, commented in support of the renaming in a pre-recorded video shown at the meeting. She said renaming the area, along with the research effort behind it, would mark the beginning of a “transformative new era” for state parks, as historically marginalized groups can go back in history as it applies to California’s state parks.
Daniel Echeveria is a freelance writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: danielle.echeverria@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DanielleEchev
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