Stonewall Street, Secession Way, Jefferson Davis Street, and Jackson Avenue; if you are from the southeastern United States, you probably might know of a few similarly named roads, so why has Charlotte moved to change street names like those?
On Feb. 9, the Charlotte City Council unanimously voted in agreement with the Charlotte Legacy Commission’s recommendation to retitle roads named after Confederate leaders, slave owners and white supremacists, according to WCNC Charlotte. The Legacy Commission plans to work with the city council in the future to decide on other names.
In the United States, roads are sometimes named by wealthy individuals paying or self-ambitious developers. But for the most part, the National League of Cities reports that numbers, trees and names of popular or important people are by far the most common name-inspirations and are usually decided upon by a city planner or governing council.
What names are considered to be within the scope of relevant important figures, though, varies widely by the locality. Founding fathers, presidents, and generals are quite common — Washington, Sherman, and Lincoln to name a few (Lincoln being much more popular in Illinois).
Although some new figures have risen recently, in the South, the lion’s share of observed local names are known for Confederate, pro-slavery, Jim Crow or white supremacist roots.
In Rock Hill alone, the roads that fall under this category include Dixie Lane, the North and South Confederate Avenues, Jackson Street, Barringer Road, Bancroft Drive and the North and South Stonewall Streets. And not to mention Winthrop University buildings also using names such as Tillman or Thurmond.
When you compare the sheer number of roads and sites named after renowned racists compared to the amount of infrastructure named after heroes of equality, some of these Confederate names start to seem repetitive.
Even acknowledging the names, one might still ask — why is it important to switch them out?
Racist and fanatical groups will often rally around symbols of their cause, even if the icon is outdated and publicly unpopular. Nazis, the Klu Klux Klan, the Confederate Army and flag, as well as the symbols of all those groups, are all rallying points for racist and white supremacist groups.
While naming monuments or roads after Washington or Hamilton may be respectful and commonplace enough, using racists’ names for similar purposes is a disgrace to Southern culture.
While this comparison is rather blasé, people seeing our streets named what they are would be like seeing Hitler Street in Germany. We’ve essentially become blind to the horrors that hide behind the names of historical Southern figures.
What can be done about this?
Visit the City of Rock Hill’s website (or the site of whichever city you live in) and check to see which ward and district you live in. Contact your councilperson, your mayor, or if you want to make changes at a higher level, gather a group of assenting people and talk to your governor or Congress representative.
Although it is a strange and unwieldy venture, giving your opinions to your representatives and participating in politics is actually part of being a good citizen and making our government a more democratic one, especially if you voice multiple opinions together.
Young people as a whole share a historical trend of underestimating their political voice. So, regardless of who you agree with or what exactly your opinion is, if you feel strongly about it, then you should give it a voice.
Visit the City of Rock Hill website and find out more about your local representatives here: https://www.cityofrockhill.com/departments/general-government/city-council.
Graphic by Katelyn Miller
I think it is utterly stupid to change these names after all these years… all of the “slaves” are dead. They are not complaining and neither should any one else….
So tired of this “Cancel Culture”. If a street name offends you, you need help. Have you forgotten that Washington owned slaves? And that Hamilton, in all of his writings, chose NOT to speak out against slavery? When do we stop looking at the last through today’s lens? Our ancestors can hardly be compared to Hitler. Genocide and World War has never been attempted on American soil. Slave owners and those who lived during the early part of our nation were simply doing what was acceptable throughout the rest of the WORLD at that moment in time. Even in Africa. Slavery was rampant among tribes, and the African people were the ones who captured and sold their fellow man to the slave traders. Have we forgotten? Have we forgotten all of the economic and political reasons that began the Civil War? And that it DIDNT END SLAVERY IN THE NORTHERN STATES? In fact, two of those states held slaves for TWO YEARS after the war ended. You have much to learn about history. Perhaps leaving those street signs alone will spark discussion and learning.