Black Boy Lane’s name change to black activist backfires
A ROAD called Black Boy Lane for more than 300 years is to be renamed after a writer who campaigned for racial equality – despite opposition from residents and the author’s family.
Haringey Council said the original name has links with colonialism and does not reflect the ‘values and diversity’ of north London.
It has shortlisted La Rose Lane, after black activist and poet John La Rose, but his family said it is not what he would have wanted. Many residents described the move as a ‘vanity project’.
Historians said the name is likely to have come from the former Black Boy pub nearby. It was a nickname for King Charles II because of his dark looks and also referred to chimney sweeps.
People in the Tottenham road are being asked for their views as part of the council’s review of buildings and street names, which was launched in June in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Learie David, 56, who grew up in the house which has the road sign on it, said: ‘We have been here since 1979.
‘As a black man, I don’t find it offensive. They say it’s from where the chimney sweeps used to live.
‘I’m known as the guy who lives on
Black Boy Lane and I don’t want it to change.’ Resident Anne Taylor said the La Rose family had described the name change as a ‘tokenistic gesture’.
Council leader Joseph Ejiofor said: ‘We want our communities to be proud of their borough, and to have street names that reflect who we are, and the times that we live in.’