Alexandria proposes replacing Confederate street names

Alexandria, Virginia, is renaming streets to honor the contributions of prominent African American figures in the city’s history and removing the names of Confederate figures.

Among them, Forrest Street, now named for Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Drop an R, and it would simply be Forest Street – as in trees.

“I’m sure if people still use two Rs, things will get delivered to us,” one resident said.

With Sycamore and Hemlock streets within walking distance, “All the other streets, they’re, like, all tree names,” the resident said. “So, I didn’t even notice that there were two Rs.”

Another street up for change: Early Street, named for Confederate Maj. Gen. Jubal Early, who led the attack on D.C.’s Fort Stevens during the Civil War. Its proposed new name: Harriett Jacobs Street after the abolitionist and author of the book “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.”

There are some residents – particularly those with home-based businesses – who worry about the address change, which could mean new shipping labels and other such business costs.

“It’s gonna force me to go ahead and change my return address labels, and I’ll pass those costs on to the city,” one resident said.

According to the proposals, he may have to foot those costs.

He lives on Jordan Court, which, like Jordan Street, is named after a brigadier general in the Confederate Army. They would become Hughes Street and Hughes Court, named after an enslaved family that lived in the Foxchase area.

While those opposed say the changes erase history, many of the names of prominent Confederates weren’t applied to streets until a 1950s city ordinance.

“Our predecessors used street naming policies as a form of permanent protest against the burgeoning civil rights movement and the growing political power of African Americans,” Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson said.

Some residents called the changes necessary evolution.

“I mean, just sort of not celebrating these things that we shouldn’t be celebrating,” one resident said.

Residents will get a chance to weigh in on the name changes and even propose some of their own at a public meeting at city hall Nov. 30.