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US Town Rejects Appeal to Rename Swastika Jurisdiction
Sep 24, 2020
New York’s Black Brook town council has moved to not rename its jurisdiction of Swastika, arguing that the word’s original Sanskrit definition of well-being trumps the modern view of the word and symbol.
"Swastika was named by the founders of the area who settled there," Black Brook town supervisor Jon Douglass explained to NPR.
Prior to Adolf Hitler’s co-opting of the clockwise swastika symbol, both the clockwise and counter-clockwise versions of the symbol held positive connotations in several religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism.
Neo-Nazi organizations in the West, like many seen at the infamous “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017, have continued to use the symbol as a representation of white supremacy and anti-Semitism.
© AP Photo / John Flavell
Neo-Nazi rally in Frankfort, Ky
However, not everyone who travels through the upstate New York town of Black Brook thinks the same.
Michael Alcamo, a resident of New York City, New York, told NPR that it was “jarring” to come across a brown road sign that included the name “Swastika” during his recent bike trip in the state.
It was Alcamo reaching out to county officials in August that brought about the September 14 vote.
"I didn't expect a quick, unanimous vote to reject the proposal," the cyclist told NPR.
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