Content area
Full Text
In 1962 a federal agency -- the United States Board on Geographic Names -- abolished the use of the words "Nigger" and "Nip" (a derogatory term for Japanese people) from official placenames in the United States. For the moment, these are the only two racially insulting words that have been officially banned. Prior to 1962 there were hundreds of towns, streams, and mountains that used the word Nigger in their names. Nigger Creek, Nigger Gulch, Nigger Hill, and Nigger Valley were common terms found on maps of the United States.
After the 1962 federal ban most of the placenames that once included the word Nigger were simply replaced by the term "Negro." In the main, Nigger Creeks across the nation became known as Negro Creeks. Today there are nearly 600 places and other geographical features in the United States that contain the word "Negro." To...