The General Assembly voted in 2009 to hold a referendum in November 2010 on removing "and Providence Plantations" from the official name.

Advocates for excising plantation argued that the word symbolized a legacy of disenfranchisement for many Rhode Islanders, as well as the proliferation of slavery in the colonies and in the post-colonial United States.

Advocates for retaining the name argued that plantation was simply an archaic synonym for colony and bore no relation to slavery.

[3] In June 2020, Governor Gina Raimondo signed an executive order to remove the phrase "Providence Plantations" from all official state documents.

[4] Raimondo wrote "the pain that this association causes to some of our residents should be of concern to all Rhode Islanders and we should do everything in our power to ensure that all communities can take pride in our state", referring to the ties of the word "plantations" to American slavery.