Plantation Country Club decision is a welcome change to a name steeped in our history of slavery
When he lived in Boise, Louis Sheppard would drive past the Plantation Country Club and cringe.
Sheppard, who is African American, said it bothered him because of the historical reference to slavery.
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“It was one of those things living there, all that time, and just always driving by and it just never set well with me,” said Sheppard, who now lives in North Carolina. “Just because if you think of the word ‘plantation,’ even though it’s not the word and what it means but what it reflects. … You think of slavery. Well, that’s what I did.”
So he was overjoyed when I sent him an email Thursday morning letting him know that the new owners of Plantation Country Club are changing its name.
It’s a welcome change to a name that’s steeped in our country’s history of slavery.
Glass Creek LLC, of California, purchased the longtime Garden City golf course and country club on State Street in December 2018.
“We felt from the beginning that ‘Plantation Country Club’ did not reflect the vision we had for the club’s future: a modern, inclusive, and welcoming club for all members of the community,” general manager Jayson Petersen wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday evening.
The name change comes at a time not only of new ownership, but amid global protests against police violence against Black people in the United States, notably the recent death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.
A plantation is a large estate used to grow crops. Although in its purely generic definition it’s “just a farm,” the word “plantation” typically is associated with slavery. The city of Plantation in Florida is considering changing its name in light of the current dialogue about race.
Black Lives Matter movement
In just the past few days, the cultural shift inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement is forcing entrenched national brands, including Aunt Jemima, Cream of Wheat and Uncle Ben’s, to rethink and change the images that hype their decades-old product names.
NASCAR recently announced a ban of all Confederate flags, as did the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Military branches are considering renaming bases that are named after Confederate figures, as are schools and other institutions.
Sheppard said he’s a huge NASCAR fan, and he’s happy with the steps that organization is taking.
“I was jumping for joy,” he said of NASCAR’s decision to ban Confederate flags. “You know, because these things, you just learn how to walk among it and, ‘Let’s not just cause too much of a risk, because you’re outnumbered.’”
The Cathedral of the Rockies in Boise is removing a stained-glass image of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from its sanctuary. A Meridian resident started a petition to rename a Robert E. Lee Campground in Boise County and nearby Robert E. Lee Creek.
A new name for the Plantation Country Club has not been announced.
“It’s important that we rename the club,” Petersen wrote. “We are currently in the process of finalizing our new name and look forward to announcing the exciting update in the near future. This is a club where members, their families, and their guests are always welcome. In this spirit, let’s move forward together.”
Petersen added that as Glass Creek is redesigning and redeveloping the golf course, it had planned to unveil a new name along with those changes.
“The club name should authentically reflect today’s environment and values,” Petersen wrote. “In hindsight, the decision to wait to change the name was a mistake, for which ownership takes full responsibility.”
Symbols of slavery and racism
Sheppard lived in Idaho for 14 years, including in Idaho Falls, where he once ran for mayor. He lived in Boise for several years before leaving in the summer of 2017 for North Carolina.
He said that when his mother would come to visit him in Boise, she, too, would remark on the Plantation name, disbelieving a country club would still bear that name.
“So I knew it wasn’t just me,” he said. “It’s like, I can’t be the only one who thinks this way.”
He said even though it’s been a long time coming, removing Confederate flags and symbols of our country’s history of slavery and racism is welcome.
“All of these symbols and signs, the only thing that says to me is, you Black folks better know your place,” he said. “That’s what it says. So I guess symbolizing the Confederate flag, Robert E. Lee and all these other things: Yeah, you might be free, but you better know your place. So that’s what it really symbolizes, so if we want to really have an honest conversation, and go forward, let’s rip all these reminders down, put them in the history books.”
But Sheppard said it has required white people with power — such as the new owners of Plantation — to step up and make changes. And that’s perhaps what is different about the Black Lives Matter movement this time around: White people with the power to change things are realizing things need to change. After all, if African Americans had purchased Plantation Country Club, the name would have been changed right away.
“We’ve known about this stuff for years,” Sheppard said. “We’ve never had — we don’t have — the power to kind of change it. Unless the whole movement of, not just Black folks, but white folks start saying something. And I think that’s what’s going on now. It’s more white folks are saying things. And it’s like, ‘Finally, you’re hearing what we’ve been seeing for years.’”
This story was originally published June 18, 2020 at 7:53 AM.
