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Volume 13, Issue #2. Published on December 8, 2004
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A CENTURY OF JAP ROAD
Quest to change controversial name ends with success.
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Brandon Hamilton & Harim Martinez
Asian Pacific Review
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It took 30 years but in July 2004 Jap Road was renamed Boondocks Road.
Located in Jefferson County in Texas, Jap Road was named for Yasuo Mayumi, a farmer who settled in 1905 but returned to Japan in the 1920s.
At the turn of the last century Jefferson County decided to honor Mayumi for his contributions to the community by renaming the road he lived on to Jap Road. Why they chose to use Jap, a common word of the time, rather than name it Yasuo or Mayumi Road is anyone’s guess.
Efforts to rename the street have gone on sporadically since the 1970s. Part of the resistance to the change were concerns that by doing so would erase part of the area’s history.
“If we change the name, we’re conceding to the idea that it was meant the wrong way-and it wasn’t,” said Ms. Wright, an area resident. “We’re proud of the name of our road.”
However, the work of groups such as the Japanese American Citizen’s League, argue the term is demeaning. The JACL is the nation’s oldest and largest Asian Pacific American civil rights organization in the country.
“In Jefferson County, this was an extremely controversial issue which is why we are especially grateful to the Commissioners Court for understanding that while history and tradition should be valued, they cannot be allowed to stand in the way of change where those traditions are hurtful,” said George Hirasaki, JACL Houston Chapter President. “Yesterday's vote dignified the honorable intent of the original namers of the road, and it reflected well on the county.”
The Jefferson county incident has brought the attention of other “Jap” streets throughout the country. Jap Lane in Orange County, Texas, officials have voluntarily renamed to Moore Lane after a local farmer.
The JACL and other civil rights groups are currently looking into legal actions to eliminated racial slurs from public buildings and landmarks.
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