The city of Austin’s Equity Office looked into confederate monuments and pro-slavery names in Texas and suggested changing the capital city’s name, in a report that was released on Friday.
Stephen F. Austin, nicknamed the “father of Texas,” opposed Mexico’s attempt to ban slavery in the province of Tejas.
He also said that freeing slaves would turn them into “vagabonds, a nuisance and a menace,” according to The Austin American-Statesman.
Austin’s equity office looked at pro-Confederate and pro-slavery names, recommends renaming… Austin. Also “Reagan Hill Drive” which they ‘presume’ was named for Texas Democratic Congressman John Reagan who resigned from the House when the state seceded. https://t.co/TPxslRiiCX pic.twitter.com/SrVwtcnMRA
— gary leff (@garyleff) July 27, 2018
The report also listed several other places, neighborhoods, and streets that they recommend changing based on who they were named after. They include Pease Park, the Bouldin Creek neighborhood, Barton Springs, and several different streets all named after William Barton, who was a slave owner, according to the report. The locations were all listed as secondary changes that could be made.
The report comes as many cities in the south have seen protests erupt around statues and locales that were named after historical figures who had checkered pasts. Earlier this month, a commission in Virginia announced their suggestion to remove a statue of Jefferson Davis, the only president of the Confederate States. (RELATED: Richmond’s Jefferson Davis Statue Might Be Next On The Chopping Block)