By Ross Williams | Deputy Editor
For decades, activists have been pushing states like Georgia to rename places named after racist elements of the past.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources recently removed the name of a well-known writer of music for racist minstrel shows from a state park, changing Stephen C. Foster State Park to Okefenokee State Park, and they aren’t even looking for any credit.
Press materials about the name change did not mention the controversy surrounding Foster, and a department spokesperson said Foster himself had nothing to do with the change, which comes shortly after the Okefenokee received a special commendation from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage committee for its environmental and cultural importance.
Foster has been called the father of American music and is best known for standards like “Oh! Susanna” and “Camptown Races,” but he lived in a time in which racist minstrel shows were enormously popular, and much of his music contains lyrics that would widely be considered offensive today.
“I think all evidence suggests that he was just a guy writing songs who didn't think too hard about slavery or the fate of African American people and was simply working in a popular idiom of his day,” said Esther Morgan-Ellis, a professor of music history at the University of North Georgia.
Stephen C. Foster State Park has been officially renamed to Okefenokee State Park. Georgia Department of Natural Resources
CULTURE
By Ross Williams
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources removed the name Stephen Foster from a state park, though a spokesman said the name change is unrelated to the 19th century songwriter’s association with racist minstrel music.
Buds of marijuana on display inside Mother Earth Wellness in Pawtucket, one of eight retailers licensed to sell recreational cannabis. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
CANNABIS
By Alander Rocha
Medical cannabis dispensaries are now selling the flower form of the drug in Georgia, but a new state law that took effect this summer has created some confusion over how it can be legally consumed.
Lawmakers passed a measure earlier this year that overhauled the state’s medical cannabis program by dropping the confusing “low THC oil” branding, allowing dry-herb and oil vaporization, adding qualifying medical conditions and removing previous potency barriers. The changes quickly triggered significant growth in the number of patients enrolled in the program, with nearly 50,000 patients as of Sept. 2, according to the Department of Public Health.
But limits remain on how the raw cannabis flower can be used. Smoking it remains illegal under the new state law known as the Putting Patients First Act, which allows registered patients 21 and older to consume flower and oil at home strictly through vaporization.
Tiger Stadium’s new sign Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (Photo by Matthew Perschall)
COLLEGE SPORTS
By Piper Hutchinson
Inside a Baton Rouge courtroom Thursday, a lawsuit challenging arcane NCAA eligibility rules turned into a political football with prominent elected officials involved on each side.
The case is one of two that pits the Southeastern Conference against LSU in proceedings that have captured national attention and drawn reaction from leaders from around the region watching with interest from the sidelines.
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