(The Center Square) — Rhode Island lawmakers are once again mulling a plan to change the name of Victory Day, which commemorates the end of World War II, but the proposal is facing pushback from those who say it would denigrate the sacrifices of the state’s veterans.
A proposal filed by state Rep. Jennifer Stewart, a Pawtucket Democrat, would change the August holiday’s name to “Peace and Remembrance Day” which she argues would “ensure Rhode Island acknowledges the millions of innocent civilians who suffered throughout the war.”
Stewart argues that changing the name of the holiday would recognize “that the U.S. engaged in racially discriminatory treatment of first and second generation Japanese Americans residing on its mainland” and that “historians have cast doubt on the military necessity of using the atomic bombs.”
“By renaming the day, Rhode Island can affirm a commitment to the desirability of peace and
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