A Plantation Country re-brand amid calls for racial justice

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana tourist commission is abandoning a 19-year-old promotion touting “New Orleans Plantation Country,” effective immediately.

The River Parishes Tourist Commission, representing an area just up the Mississippi River from New Orleans, had already planned to drop the plantation reference by the end of this year — a decision made in 2018. More recent plans had called for the plantation slogan to be retired in July, commission executive director Buddy Boe said Friday.

Then came nationwide protests against racial injustice following the Minneapolis police custody death of George Floyd. That prompted the immediate change.

Boe said the new “Louisiana's River Parishes” promotion will stress the region’s “whole story.” That includes architecture, cuisine, music, outdoor sports and diverse cultures — as well as the cruel history of slavery on the region's plantations.