The council in a small town has rejected a resident’s plea to change a road name deemed a ‘racial slur’.
The resident of Penola, a South Australian town of around 1,000 people located in the state’s east near the Victorian border, had just bought a property on Chinaman’s Lane and was embarrassed by the road’s name.
He asked the Wattle Range Council if it would change the name, but Yahoo reported it denied the request at its monthly meeting on Tuesday.
‘Following consideration of the officers’ report detailing the historic origins of the name, the opinions expressed by other residents, and a submission received from a descendant of one of the early Chinese settlers, council made the unanimous decision not to pursue the renaming of the lane,’ a spokesman sad.
Renaming the lane would have meant updating a number of databases, title references and addresses, according to the spokesman.
The lane gained its name in the 1800s when it was used by Chinese vegetable farmers who sold supplies to those passing from Robe to Ballarat during the 19th century gold rush.
In the letter making the request, the unnamed resident acknowledged the historical origin of the name, but argued it was outdated.
‘While I recognise the name has a relationship with the history of the region, the word “Chinaman” is widely considered to be a slur, and has been for some time now,’ the letter read.
A council in the South Australian town of Penola, which is near the Victorian border has rejected the plea by a resident to change a road name deemed a ‘racial slur’
The letter writer said the name embarrassed them particularly if they had to share it with anyone of Asian descent.
A similar name change proposal divided residents in one of Australia’s ritziest suburbs in July.
Osmand Chiu, who is a second-generation Chinese-Australian, wanted a change of name for Chinaman’s Beach in Mosman, on Sydney’s Lower North Shore.
Mr Chiu, who is a research fellow at independent public policy think tank PerCapita, said the term ‘Chinaman’ is disrespectful and is used as a racist slur.
‘It is jarring to have a place named ‘Chinamans Beach’ in the city that I was born and grew up in as if there is nothing wrong with it,’ he told the Mosman Collective.
‘We would never name a place or even refer to someone as a ‘Chinaman’ today, which speaks volumes about the term’.
The popular tourist hotspot, which is surrounded by a 250m stretch of sand, is now home to some of the most expensive real estate in Australia.
It is understood the name is a relatively recent one.
The beach was traditionally known as Rosherville Beach, but was renamed in 1977 according to senior lecturer in history at the University of Sydney Sophie-Loy Wilson.
Despite the plea of an embarrassed new resident council rejected the name change stating it had historical value
Ms Wilson told SBS Insight the name was changed to refer to Chinese fishermen who used the surrounding waters.
Locals are divided over the issue, with resident and property consultant Rob Klaric, saying the scenic beach should not be renamed.
‘A lot of wealthy Chinese people from mainland China love the fact that the beach is called Chinaman’s Beach,’ he said.
Other residents defended the name on social media.
‘Ok so should it be called Australianman beach? Let’s see how that goes down? So bored with people being offended by words yawn yawn,’ one wrote.
Another added: ‘Absolutely Not. It’s history with a wonderful story. When is this lunacy going to stop.’
