# "Negro Lake"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negro-lake/850>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [March 15, 2000, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negro-lake/850 "2000-03-15T19:25:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2000, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negro-lake/850/1 "2000-03-15T19:25:00Z")

</div>

Cecil’s newspaper column this week [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000317.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000317.html) Is “squaw” an obscene insult? (17-Mar-2000)  
, he responds a question about a proposal in the Maine legislature seeking to ban the term “squaw” in place names because Native Americans consider it a vulgarity. After his usual masterful review of the historical and linguistic evidence, Cecil concludes that “squaw” is not derived from an obscenity, but that some Native Americans would find it offensive nonetheless.

Toward the end of his column Cecil states:

> [@](#):
>
> In 1967, 143 place names containing the word “nigger” were changed to “negro” by order of the U.S. Board of Geographic Names.

This leaves me with two questions:

1. Are any of the 143 places that were renamed “Negro Lake” (or “Negro” whatever) in 1967 still named that?

2. What is the U.S. Board of Geographic Names, and what has it done since 1967 to protect us from offensive names?  
[Note: This message has been edited by JillGat]

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ursa\_Major](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a88e57/32.png) [@Ursa\_Major](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ursa_Major)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2000, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negro-lake/850/2 "2000-03-15T19:59:00Z")

</div>

Go here: [http://mapping.usgs.gov/www/gnis/gnisform.html](http://mapping.usgs.gov/www/gnis/gnisform.html) and type “negro” into the “Feature Name” box and hit “Submit Query”. The search engine will return 561 place names with the word “negro” in them for the United States alone.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2000, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negro-lake/850/3 "2000-03-15T23:13:00Z")

</div>

Thanks Ursa. That quickly answered the first part of my question and gave me the link to the second part. From [http://mapping.usgs.gov/www/gnis/bgn.html](http://mapping.usgs.gov/www/gnis/bgn.html) :

> [@](#):
>
> The U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a Federal body created in 1890 and established in its present form by Public Law in 1947. Comprised of representatives of Federal agencies, appointed for 2-year terms, the Board is authorized to establish and maintain uniform geographic name usage throughout the Federal Government. Sharing its responsibilities with the Secretary of the Interior, the Board has developed principles, policies, and procedures governing the use of both domestic and foreign geographic names as well as underseas and Antarctic feature names. Although established to serve the Federal Government as a central authority to which all name problems, name inquiries, and new name proposals can be directed, the Board also plays a similar role for the general public.

And the Board’s policy on derogatory names:

> [@](#):
>
> POLICY V: DEROGATORY NAMES
> 
> The guiding principle of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names for the names of places, features, and areas in the United States and its territories is to adopt for official Federal use the names found in present-day local usage. An exception to this principle occurs when a name is shown to be highly offensive or derogatory to a particular racial or ethnic group, gender, or religious group. In such instances, the Board does not approve use of the names for Federal maps, charts, and other publications.
> 
> The Board, however, is conservative in this matter and prefers to interfere as little as possible with the use of names in everyday language because attitudes and perceptions of words considered to be pejorative vary between individuals and can change connotation from one generation to another. Geographic names are part of the historical record of the United States, and that record may be either distorted or disrupted by the elimination of names associated with particular groups of Americans. Such unwarranted action by the Board could, in time, be a disservice to the people the process is meant to protect.
> 
> Policy
> 
> In the case of domestic geographic names, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names will not adopt a name for Federal usage that is determined by the Board to be derogatory to a particular racial or ethnic group, gender, or religious group.
> 
> Guidelines
> 
> Any individual or agency may request the Board to change a currently used name on grounds the name is derogatory or patently offensive.
> 
> Requests for name changes should be in the form of an application to the Board including reasons why the present name should not be used. The requester must offer an alternative name as part of the application following Board guidelines for submittal of name proposals.
> 
> Upon receipt of a request to change a derogatory name, the Board will investigate the background for the current name and will solicit from the appropriate State names authority that organization’s views on the proposed change, including any alternatives.
> 
> In considering a change proposal, the Board will give careful consideration to all relevant factors, including the extent and distribution of usage, historical context, user perceptions and intent, and lexical meanings.
> 
> The Board will not adopt a name proposal that includes the word “Jap” or the word “Nigger” whether or not it is in current local usage and regardless of by whom proposed. In the event of a name change, the prior form will appear in the permanent record as a variant.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2000, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negro-lake/850/4 "2000-03-18T02:41:00Z")

</div>

What a great resource! I was a fifth grader all over again, looking up every dirty word I could think of.

Bitch Islands sounds like an Andrew Dice Clay joke about a resort that caters to women’s needs through a series of monthly visits.

And I really wonder anybody swims in Shite Creek.

I’m sure there is a more adult use for this resource, and I am sure someday I will grow up enough to use it for that.

Obfus.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2000, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negro-lake/850/5 "2000-03-18T05:48:00Z")

</div>

And people complain that the government doesn’t do anything for the tax dollars we send them.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2000, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/negro-lake/850/6 "2000-03-20T17:30:00Z")

</div>

Cecil’s column has been posted now.

[Is “squaw” an obscene insult? (17-Mar-2000)](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000317.html)