REVERSE REVERSE RACISM: Place renaming risks continued erasure of Black Quebeckers. Want to change some place names to accommodate blacks? Too bad, because now you’re erasing them from history!

Quebec’s Toponymy Commission announced on Sep. 25 that the English term “nigger” and French term “nègre,” used in 11 natural place names in the province, are pejorative and must be changed. Although this is correct and important, conspicuously missing from the statement is information about the steps the commission will take moving forward.

Also absent is direct language about the primary role that Black Quebec scholars, researchers, and community organizers will have in the renaming process. At the end of its statement, the commission suggests that the designation of the new names “mette en valeur l’importance du rôle joué par l’ensemble de la communauté québécoise,” meaning it will highlight the important role played by the entire Quebec community.

This is both dangerous and inappropriate given the longstanding and steadfast invisibility of Black Quebecker history and curricula in schools and universities. This history of absence means that that only a handful of community members and university scholars in the province have a strong grasp of the history and culture of Black Quebec.