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City report on Confederate monuments raises idea of renaming Austin

Hozz

By Hozz
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Hozz

Hozz 1,017

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https://www.mystatesman.com/news/local/city-report-confederate-monuments-raises-idea-renaming-austin

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Known as both the “father of Texas” and the namesake of the state’s capital, Stephen F. Austin carved out the early outlines of Texas among his many accomplishments.

He also opposed an attempt by Mexico to ban slavery in the province of Tejas and said if slaves were freed, they would turn into “vagabonds, a nuisance and a menace.”

For that reason, the city of Austin’s Equity Office suggested renaming the city in a report about existing Confederate monuments that was published this week.

Also on the list of locales to possibly be renamed: Pease Park, the Bouldin Creek neighborhood, Barton Springs and 10 streets named for William Barton, the “Daniel Boone of Texas,” who was a slave owner.

To be sure, the identified streets and parks are only suggested for reconsideration. And the city, Bouldin Creek, Pease Park and the Barton-related landmarks — a group that includes Barton Springs — were included in a lower-tier list of “assets for secondary review” in the report. Still, the report did identify several streets staff consider related to the Confederacy and worthy of more immediate action. Those streets are:

• Littlefield Street

• Tom Green Street

• Sneed Cove

• Reagan Hill Drive

• Dixie Drive

• Confederate Avenue

• Plantation Road

The city estimates that it would cost $5,956 to rename the seven streets.

While the cost of such changes might appear reasonable, opposition to similar renamings has tended to revolve around the inconvenience and expense faced by longtime homeowners and business owners who must deal with a new address. Complaints along those lines surfaced earlier this year when the Austin City Council changed the names of two streets recognizing Confederate leaders.

Before the council renamed Robert E. Lee Road as Azie Morton Road and Jeff Davis Avenue was changed to William Holland Avenue, the city gathered input from residents along those streets. A majority opposed the changes, which occurred in April.

Some accused the city of whitewashing history.

The latest report acknowledged the likelihood of opposing viewpoints and nodded to inconveniences to businesses and residents and the view that changing the names could be considered a threat to historical preservation. It also asked whether the proposed changes reside on a slippery slope.

“What’s next and where do we stop?” the report asks.

Any changes to road names would require public hearings and action from the City Council. Before the city changed the two street names in April, the city’s staff had reached out to all residents to seek their input.

A change to the city’s name, meanwhile, likely would require an election since “Austin” would have to be struck from the city charter and replaced.

The report also identified numerous historical markers related to the Confederacy on city property that could be targeted for removal. Those include a marker for the Confederate States of America that’s located at Congress Avenue and Cesar Chavez Street.

However, the city would need approval from the Texas Historical Commission and the Travis County Historical Commission to move them.

Any new street names might fall in line with a 2017 recommendation from the Austin Commission for Women that called for the city to address gender and racial disparities in the naming of public symbols. The commission also suggested preference should be given to individuals connected to Austin and having a “positive relationship and history with the community.

The Equity Office’s report concludes, “It is essential to acknowledge that societal values are fluid, and they can be and are different today compared to when our city made decisions to name and/or place these Confederate symbols in our community.

“It is also important to acknowledge that nearly all monuments to the Confederacy and its leaders were erected without a true democratic process. People of color often had no voice and no opportunity to raise concerns about the city’s decision to honor Confederate leaders.”

So absurd.  I was there 91-97 for school and work and it was pretty weird but it was not yet the New California it has become.

 

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Steel Shank

Steel Shank 9,429

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1 hour ago, RD3 said:

Like the idiot that wants to stop the "Eyes of Texas".  This shit is insane and I'm center-left as it is.  These idiots are just driving people to the far right.

This. People get so tired of hearing shit like this they end up voting for Trump.

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FORTY NINE TO ZERO

FORTY NINE TO ZERO 2,652

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seems the people who argued taking down down the statues was a slippery slope might have been correct. 

 

Renaming the Austin thing is crazy and will never happen. 

 

The removing of Texas Historic Commission plaques is much more worryisome. It seems so minor that people might not put up the effort to fight the removal, but these are plaques telling local history.  Words explaining what happened in the past at a particular location.   Not monuments.   

 

Wtf would anyone want to remove those?!?

 

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Neonmoon

Neonmoon 38,129

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Even if I lived on David Duke road, the mere thought of having to update or get new documents like a Driver License, Credit Cards, Passport, work pay stubs, mailings, benefits, banks document, mortgage document, etc. makes me want to commit suicide 

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Deej

Deej 76,856

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13 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

Even if I lived on David Duke road, the mere thought of having to update or get new documents like a Driver License, Credit Cards, Passport, work pay stubs, mailings, benefits, banks document, mortgage document, etc. makes me want to commit suicide 

That's offensive to people whose loved ones have killed themselves. We're going to need you to take down that post.

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89,751

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21 minutes ago, Telegraph_it said:

Removing historic plaques is absolutely absurd. Not sure what that accomplishes at all. 

At least Waterloo is kind of a cool name. 

I'm good with Waterloo.  Maybe we can convince Bastrop or Dripping Springs to rename themselves to "Austin" out of protest of us ditching the name, leading to Californians being confused and moving out to one of those places and ignoring the big-ass city of Waterloo that seemingly sprang out of nowhere.

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Lhorn

Lhorn 4,928

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2 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Lady Bird Land

Dude!  Lady Bird Johnson was married to LBJ who although his administration did a lot for civil rights, was once heard to tell an off color joke. How horribly insensitive of you to suggest such a thing. You are without exaggeration the worst human being in the world. 

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Pato del Muerto

Pato del Muerto 52,532

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14 minutes ago, Lhorn said:

Dude!  Lady Bird Johnson was married to LBJ who although his administration did a lot for civil rights, was once heard to tell an off color joke. How horribly insensitive of you to suggest such a thing. You are without exaggeration the worst human being in the world. 

You’re correct. Can we change the lake back to town lake then when we rename Austin after that missing atheist lady?

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Auto Driller

Auto Driller 2,506

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3 hours ago, GotThatFire said:

Should change the name of literally everything in the world, because bad stuff has happened literally everywhere in the world. 

Luckily we are living in an enlightened era so as long as we name them after modern figures we’ll never have to worry about it again.

Right?

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Lhorn

Lhorn 4,928

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3 minutes ago, Murfdogg21 said:

Dos Angeles

Columbus Day is bad right?  In the same vein, is there a case to be made that all Spanish influence should be wiped from our history too because the invading Spaniards were totally wack to the Mayans and shit.  Or do their atrocities get a pass because they aren't considered "white." Or are they considered "white?"  There are at least European and European colonizers were bad.  Whether you get a deep, rich tan or whether you burn in the sun seems to be he deciding factor here.  But Columbus was Italian and they tan pretty good too.  

I'm gonna need a millennial with at least 12 college credits to make a definitive judgement on this.

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89,751

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Changing to Waterloo is not enough, you have to convince another nearby city to rename themselves to Austin.

Madalyn Murray O'Hair is a mouthful, but if you just use the first name, and throw in a bit of Spanish, we can get "La Madalyn" and then millennials will think we are an overpriced pretend French eatery and hopefully ignore us while on their way to where they think Austin is.

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Art Vandelay

Art Vandelay 1,712

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Changing to Waterloo is not enough, you have to convince another nearby city to rename themselves to Austin.
Madalyn Murray O'Hair is a mouthful, but if you just use the first name, and throw in a bit of Spanish, we can get "La Madalyn" and then millennials will think we are an overpriced pretend French eatery and hopefully ignore us while on their way to where they think Austin is.
Only problem with that is that an overpriced French eatery called La Madalyn sounds exactly like the kind of place hipsters would flock to.
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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89,751

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12 minutes ago, Art Vandelay said:
32 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:
Changing to Waterloo is not enough, you have to convince another nearby city to rename themselves to Austin.
Madalyn Murray O'Hair is a mouthful, but if you just use the first name, and throw in a bit of Spanish, we can get "La Madalyn" and then millennials will think we are an overpriced pretend French eatery and hopefully ignore us while on their way to where they think Austin is.

Only problem with that is that an overpriced French eatery called La Madalyn sounds exactly like the kind of place hipsters would flock to.

The French had slaves, did they not?  Make sure the hipsters know that, and it won't be a problem.

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