Are you kidding me? (Coon Rapids, Anoka: live, cabin, moving)

[kuan]

Negro Lake Fishing in Anoka County, Minnesota | Fishing Works

[ozzie679]

Must have been named by a Spanish speaking person

[moving123456]

Are you kidding us with this thread?

The word negro is not always used in a bad way.

[Astron1000]

Negro is a Spanish and Portugese word derived from the Latin, niger, meaning black. Usage of the latin term is pretty common. e.g. Nigeria, Niger River, etc. Negro is also a common term (especially in latin music) and has nothing to do with disparaging anyone.

[crazyme4878]

Okay, I'm guessing this lake was probably named because of the slur. I'm guessing it was named many decades ago when no one thought twice about calling a black person a negro. The lake probably looked black to whoever named it, hence the name. Or perhaps a AfricanAmerican family lived on it, or who knows. The thing is, all the lakes were named a long time ago. For better or worse, people don't think of renaming them. When they do, there is usually an uproar because people don't like changes. There were many Squaw lakes and different tribes took up the cause and got the lake names changed, or attempted to. The only reason this lake is still named so is because no one has bothered to try to have it changed. Perhaps the OP would like to? Begin with contacting the DNR (politely mind you--they didn't name the lake).

[moving123456]

[sarcasm]

OMGZ RACIST SUBURB NAME!!!11111one1


Coon Rapids, Minnesota - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[/sarcasm]

[Grannysroost]

Not to start anything, but there is also a Coon Lake there that I think is largest lake in Anoka County.....

[roneb]

I've got to admit, this is one instance where a little calm reserve and/or reason is in order. Don't jump to any negative conclusions. The name could be based on Latin or Spanish origins as Astron1000 alluded to. Even if it is referencing race, consider the context. The name probably dates to the mid to late 19th century. I'm not an expert in African-American history, but I'd be willing to bet if you'd asked a Black/African-American (many of my African-American friends actually prefer the term "black") in that time to describe themselves, they'd have used that same term (negro) themselves.

[Camden Northsider]

I'm pretty sure there hasn't been many spanish-speaking persons settling in the anoka county area in its history.

It was interesting to find that Anoka County does have some black history connected to it - these Swedes bought their farm from a person listed as "Negro Shepard" in 1901, and famous black civil rights leader/ politican Anna Arnold Hedgeman grew up in Anoka. Unfortunately Anna isn't listed as a "notable resident" on Anoka's wikipedia page (or anywhere on the city of Anoka's website), but I'm sure it was just a toss-up between her and "Reginald Berg, U.S. minor league hockey player. Currently in Florida."

[asitshouldbe]

Originally Posted by moving123456

[sarcasm]

OMGZ RACIST SUBURB NAME!!!11111one1


Coon Rapids, Minnesota - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[/sarcasm]

This is for all the "idiots" out there. Coon Rapids happens to be on the river that is where you get the "rapids" and there was a large population of racoons "coon" back when the city was named.