This week, I opened our copy of the Cape Gazette and read the top headline which referenced Plantation Road. Why do we have a well-traveled public road in our community that commemorates the atrocity of slavery? In 2023? Why are we advertising the brutal institution that existed here in Delaware for more than 100 years, fewer than 200 years ago?
This 2.5-mile road in Sussex County runs from the north side of Lowe’s to Route 24. It traverses both western Lewes and northern Rehoboth Beach. For those who do not know, plantations in this country were farms where enslaved individuals were forced to work for free; adults and children were raped, beaten and killed; and families were torn apart. These enslaved persons nearly always lived in deplorable conditions without enough food, sleep, clothing, shelter or medical care, and they had no legal rights to complain or improve their situations.
What do Plantation Road signs, GPS announcements and map designations say to our children? Because the road has been called Plantation Road for 24 years, are we tricked into thinking there’s nothing wrong with that title? How do the descendants of enslaved people who now live, work and visit in our area feel when they see that name? Why haven’t we renamed that road?
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