In his 2010 Comedy Centralstand-up special, comedian Louis C.K. pondered a sometimes-epithetand the fine line between desciptor, and slur. Joking aside, C.K.’s take hits very close to home for the townspeople of Mont Vernon, New Hampshire, who, for the past several months, have been engaged in a fierce debate about whether or not a small local pond’s name on federal maps, “Jew Pond” is offensive, and whether the pond should get a new moniker.
Darren Garnick is a freelance journalistand filmmaker from one of Mont Vernon’s neighboring towns, Amherst. He covered the debate for The Atlantic.