| The New Orleans City Council Street Renaming Commission (CCSRC) has submitted its final report to the Council outlining recommendations for 37 streets, parks and public places honoring White Supremacists across the city. The nine-member CCSRC was established June 2020, with the primary responsibility of ensuring stakeholder engagement in the renaming process. The Commission has held 12 commission meetings, hosted nine neighborhood engagement sessions, and received a total of 1,244 public comment submissions. Since submitting its initial report to the Council in November, the CCSRC continued to engage members of the public and community partners to help solidify its final set of recommendations provided below: |
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| While other U.S. cities have made similar efforts to re-examine historical symbols that have come under new scrutiny in the wake of the police brutality and racial protests, the final report of the CCSRC includes the most sweeping set of changes proposed by any other municipality in the country at this time. “This was a massive undertaking; one that was made possible through the tireless efforts of our volunteer commissioners, Council staff, and the fantastic team of historians, researchers, and academics, who provided the foundation that allowed us to do this work,” says Commission Chairman Karl J. Connor. “In order for New Orleans to move forward toward a better future, we must first seek to understand and address the wrongs of our past. And while this report represents a historic first step, there is still much to be done and even more to be learned in order to ensure the racial healing owed to our great city. It has always been my experience that meaningful change occurs at the intersection of passion, pain, profit and policy, and that is exactly where we find ourselves today.” While the ultimate decisions lie with the City Council, its recent approval and ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the renaming of Jefferson Davis Parkway in honor of Norman C. Francis have demonstrated its commitment to not only discussing but enacting these types of changes across the City of New Orleans. Upon being selected and confirmed, all recommended streets, parks or places for renaming will be sent for review by the City Planning Commission (CPC) prior to coming up for a final vote of approval by the Council. To view the final report of the New Orleans CCSRC in its entirety, click here. |