And I'm glad I'm not the only one to see through this thinly veiled cosmetic attempt at "fixing racism" by doing nothing but making it harder on the current residents of Plantation street (by the way are majority POC and who will be forced to bare the brunt of time/fees to change their address).

Thankfully seems like someone on the council board sees through this too: from the Boston globe

>The Worcester City Council is expected to hear the petition at its weekly meeting Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. From there, it will be referred to the Public Works Committee, which oversees local infrastructure related to streets and public buildings.

>George Russell, chair of the Public Works Committee, called UMass’s petition “not well thought out” and “inconsiderate” to the home and business owners along Plantation Street, which stretches more than 4 miles. Changing the name, Russell said, would require hundreds of people to update their drivers’ licenses, passports, mortgages, and more.

>“It’s one thing if it was a small street, and the people who owned property or rented properties all came together,” Russell said. “It’s almost like asking each one of them to move.”

>Russell said he previously spoke to Anderson and suggested creating an honorary name for the section of the road that runs along campus.

>He said he understands the university’s concerns, but noted that there are likely other parts of Worcester’s history that may be offensive to some and said the city has more pressing issues to address.

>“If you look up the word plantation in the dictionary, there’s no reference to slavery,” Russell said. “I don’t know any history of a plantation or plantations [in Worcester].”

>Plantation Street was the first road built on the Quinsigamond Plantation, a village established by European settlers in the 1600s, according to an account of local history by the City of Worcester. The site was destroyed in King Phillip’s War, a bloody conflict between settlers and native tribes including the Nipmuc, and rebuilt as Worcester, according to the Worcester Memorial Auditorium.

>Russell’s district includes the bottom portion of Plantation Street and all of Plantation Terrace.

So this is someone who actually represents the regular people who live on plantation-named roads. Good! Thankfully they are thinking about their constituents and not a corporate entity telling the city what to do at the expense of "the little people".

It honestly makes me sick that there are people who are wanting to do this without regard for how it will affect the lives of those who live on plantation-named roads. Just so a six-figure paid diversity consultant umass hired can add to their resume that "they helped fight racism" by doing the most minimal effort possible. People throw around the term virtue-signalling way too mich nowadays (like the boy who cried wolf)...but THIS...this is an example of exactly what virtue-signalling is and how it does nothing to actually help real societal issues. Again...who are going to be the ones paying fees for name changes?? Notice UMass isn't coming out to say they'll be forking over all that money to the worcester residents affected!! Who...again are majority POC who live on plantation-named roads. Yeah...."let's put a monetary burden on some POC people on the Worcester community so we can feel smug when we drive home to Northborough". Litterally the opposite of how you help a community fight against racism.