Trenton Square
There have been a few questions raised after the naming of Trenton Square in Jersey in the Jersey International Finance Centre, where a delegation from Trenton came over to officiate at the opening.
For those who don’t know, Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The city's mayor Reed Gusciora has come to the island for the ceremony, along with a delegation of politicians and senior officials. It is part of the government's plans to strengthen ties with the US state.
The name was suggested by St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft who said:
"In 2014, I was asked by the Chief Minister to represent the island at the 350th anniversary of the founding of New Jersey. This is when it occurred to me that there would be merit in recognising the historic links between Jersey and New Jersey, by naming a square in each of the two capital towns."
"The significant contribution Jersey played in the foundation of the most densely populated state of America is not as well-known as it could be, and I am hopeful that this small step may lead to all kinds of beneficial links between our island and New Jersey in the future."
A Slavery Connection?
But Mike Dun in particular has commented that “Trenton Square in the Jersey International Finance centre was named after a successful New Jersey American slave trader.”
But as Tony Moretta points out, that is not the case. Trenton Square “was named after the City of Trenton, State Capital of New Jersey. That was named after William Trent, but if Trenton (with a 75% Black & Hispanic population) doesn’t have a problem with the name of their City I don’t see why anyone in Jersey should.”
Indeed, as can be seen from the photo below, the Trent City Council President is a black lady.
If Mike Dun had bothered to read "The Trentorian", he would have seen that indeed the 75% Black & Hispanic population are well evidenced as city officials and politicians.
Tony Moretta notes that Mike Dun’s criticism would be right “if it was named William Trent Square and they were putting up a statue of him you would be right. However it is named after a City not a person.”
Moreover, Tony Moretta raised this issue over the history of the name Trenton with the delegation who came over:
“I have actually asked them about it, thanks, while they were here and their view was it doesn’t come up and they have much bigger issues to focus on.”
Closer Links to Trenton, not William Trent!
In fact the key focus was on the closer links, and strengthening Jersey’s opportunities in the Digital Sector. As Tony Moretta explained:
“On May 8th, Mayor Reed Guscoria officially opened Trenton Square, the public realm that’s been created at the heart of the International Finance Centre on St Helier’s Esplanade. Since our meeting in Trenton as part of my US week, the size of the delegation visiting Jersey has increased in number. Meeting, face-to-face, with both the Mayor and a host of political and business representatives gave me the chance to showcase the good work that’s going on in Jersey, and means more of them want to see it for themselves.”
“They were wowed by our ultrafast fibre broadband network, by the way a well-regulated environment and a fleet-of-foot approach to getting things done attracted Binance – the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange – to the Island, and by our testbed proposition, SandBox Jersey, which offers up the Island as the perfectly placed location to trial new products and services.”
“I just know this is the start of a long and prosperous relationship for Jersey and New Jersey, and I am delighted that the delegation will be visiting Digital Jersey while they’re here to meet some of our tech industry players and hear more about the work we’re doing both here and around the world.”
The Austin, Texas Fiasco
Regarding the fact that the people of the City of Trenton have no problems with the name of their city it is worth noting that in 2018, newspapers reported that:
“The city of Austin, Texas, could be headed for a name change because of founder Stephen F. Austin’s pro-slavery stance, according to a report recently drafted by officials.”
“Austin, known as the “Father of Texas,” owned “a few slaves” in his lifetime and opposed efforts in Mexico to end slavery, according to author and historian Gregg Cantrell. In 1824, Austin defended the economic benefits of slavery, specifically for cotton. The city of Austin’s Equity Office published a report recommending street names to change since they honor figures who had ties to slavery, in addition to renaming the city itself.”
The city’s report noted that Austin is “not directly tied to the Confederacy and/or the Civil War” but argued that the existing name is “within the spirit of the resolution representing slavery, segregation, and/or racism.”
In the event, by August 2018 A change.org petition urging the city to return to its long-ago name of Waterloo has a whopping fifteen signatures at press time—and it was started in February 2018.
One of the best comments came from a young tourist:
“I think a lot of research needs to be done because even if you think back to, if you pick a name, there’s going to always be somebody who has had some type of blemishes in life. So you’ve got to be careful with that – making sure it is appropriate if you’re going to research that, because they might change the name to commemorate someone else and then you find something with that person so then you’re having to continuously change it”
And Walter L. Buenger, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin, called the idea of changing Austin's name "far-fetched," and Gregg Cantrell, a Stephen Austin biographer and history professor at Texas Christian University, said the proposal wouldn't even make sense. Austin "didn't leave a paper trail" on whether he viewed African Americans as inferior to whites, Cantrell told the Post, but since he died three decades before the Civil War began, he wasn't a seditious figure like the Confederate generals and leaders whose monuments are being removed across the country. "Austin never had to make the choice Robert E. Lee made," Cantrell said. "We can't tar him with that particular brush."
In the event there was groundswell of opinion against the name change:
“The citywide outcry over the possibility mirrors what ABJ readers said in an online poll: 95 percent said city leaders shouldn’t give it serious thought as this story published.”
The Problematic Nature of City Names
Steve Chapman, writing in the Austin Tribune said that:
“If re-christening is obligatory there, signmakers are going to be working overtime across the country. The nation’s capital and dozens of other Washingtons were named for a slaveholder. So were Madison, Wis., and Jefferson City, Mo. Anything called “Columbus” or “Columbia” would need a replacement, given the fate of Native Americans once the explorer arrived.”
“And let’s not forget the big enchilada: America. Its name came from Amerigo Vespucci, who on one of his voyages to the New World captured a couple of hundred natives to sell as slaves.”
“Austin, like other cities, has an identity entirely separate from its namesake. As the report noted, ‘Where do we stop?’ is a reasonable question. I don’t know exactly the right place to stop, but the name of the city is way past it.”
References https://www.trentonian.com/news/amid-budget-suit-lt-gov-sheila-oliver-tells-trenton-council/article_e6865ea0-7358-11e9-85fe-470ad48e664d.html
https://www.gov.je/News/2019/Pages/TrentonSquare.aspx
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/stupid-bullsht-austin-texas-residents-and-tourists-oppose-renaming-city/
https://theweek.com/speedreads/846272/house-judiciary-committee-kicking-week-congressional-hearings-muellers-report
https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2018/08/01/letter-from-the-editor-ok-austin-talked-it-over.html
https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/steve-chapman/ct-perspec-chapman-austin-rename-slavery-confederate-statues-20180802-story.html
Moreover, Tony Moretta raised this issue over the history of the name Trenton with the delegation who came over:
“I have actually asked them about it, thanks, while they were here and their view was it doesn’t come up and they have much bigger issues to focus on.”
Closer Links to Trenton, not William Trent!
In fact the key focus was on the closer links, and strengthening Jersey’s opportunities in the Digital Sector. As Tony Moretta explained:
“On May 8th, Mayor Reed Guscoria officially opened Trenton Square, the public realm that’s been created at the heart of the International Finance Centre on St Helier’s Esplanade. Since our meeting in Trenton as part of my US week, the size of the delegation visiting Jersey has increased in number. Meeting, face-to-face, with both the Mayor and a host of political and business representatives gave me the chance to showcase the good work that’s going on in Jersey, and means more of them want to see it for themselves.”
“They were wowed by our ultrafast fibre broadband network, by the way a well-regulated environment and a fleet-of-foot approach to getting things done attracted Binance – the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange – to the Island, and by our testbed proposition, SandBox Jersey, which offers up the Island as the perfectly placed location to trial new products and services.”
“I just know this is the start of a long and prosperous relationship for Jersey and New Jersey, and I am delighted that the delegation will be visiting Digital Jersey while they’re here to meet some of our tech industry players and hear more about the work we’re doing both here and around the world.”
The Austin, Texas Fiasco
Regarding the fact that the people of the City of Trenton have no problems with the name of their city it is worth noting that in 2018, newspapers reported that:
“The city of Austin, Texas, could be headed for a name change because of founder Stephen F. Austin’s pro-slavery stance, according to a report recently drafted by officials.”
“Austin, known as the “Father of Texas,” owned “a few slaves” in his lifetime and opposed efforts in Mexico to end slavery, according to author and historian Gregg Cantrell. In 1824, Austin defended the economic benefits of slavery, specifically for cotton. The city of Austin’s Equity Office published a report recommending street names to change since they honor figures who had ties to slavery, in addition to renaming the city itself.”
The city’s report noted that Austin is “not directly tied to the Confederacy and/or the Civil War” but argued that the existing name is “within the spirit of the resolution representing slavery, segregation, and/or racism.”
In the event, by August 2018 A change.org petition urging the city to return to its long-ago name of Waterloo has a whopping fifteen signatures at press time—and it was started in February 2018.
One of the best comments came from a young tourist:
“I think a lot of research needs to be done because even if you think back to, if you pick a name, there’s going to always be somebody who has had some type of blemishes in life. So you’ve got to be careful with that – making sure it is appropriate if you’re going to research that, because they might change the name to commemorate someone else and then you find something with that person so then you’re having to continuously change it”
And Walter L. Buenger, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin, called the idea of changing Austin's name "far-fetched," and Gregg Cantrell, a Stephen Austin biographer and history professor at Texas Christian University, said the proposal wouldn't even make sense. Austin "didn't leave a paper trail" on whether he viewed African Americans as inferior to whites, Cantrell told the Post, but since he died three decades before the Civil War began, he wasn't a seditious figure like the Confederate generals and leaders whose monuments are being removed across the country. "Austin never had to make the choice Robert E. Lee made," Cantrell said. "We can't tar him with that particular brush."
In the event there was groundswell of opinion against the name change:
“The citywide outcry over the possibility mirrors what ABJ readers said in an online poll: 95 percent said city leaders shouldn’t give it serious thought as this story published.”
The Problematic Nature of City Names
Steve Chapman, writing in the Austin Tribune said that:
“If re-christening is obligatory there, signmakers are going to be working overtime across the country. The nation’s capital and dozens of other Washingtons were named for a slaveholder. So were Madison, Wis., and Jefferson City, Mo. Anything called “Columbus” or “Columbia” would need a replacement, given the fate of Native Americans once the explorer arrived.”
“And let’s not forget the big enchilada: America. Its name came from Amerigo Vespucci, who on one of his voyages to the New World captured a couple of hundred natives to sell as slaves.”
“Austin, like other cities, has an identity entirely separate from its namesake. As the report noted, ‘Where do we stop?’ is a reasonable question. I don’t know exactly the right place to stop, but the name of the city is way past it.”
References https://www.trentonian.com/news/amid-budget-suit-lt-gov-sheila-oliver-tells-trenton-council/article_e6865ea0-7358-11e9-85fe-470ad48e664d.html
https://www.gov.je/News/2019/Pages/TrentonSquare.aspx
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/stupid-bullsht-austin-texas-residents-and-tourists-oppose-renaming-city/
https://theweek.com/speedreads/846272/house-judiciary-committee-kicking-week-congressional-hearings-muellers-report
https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2018/08/01/letter-from-the-editor-ok-austin-talked-it-over.html
https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/steve-chapman/ct-perspec-chapman-austin-rename-slavery-confederate-statues-20180802-story.html
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