What ’s in a name ? For critic of the Texan capital ’s moniker , it ’s some baffling tooth root that take to be address — and perhaps even consign to the chronicle Quran .
Thecity of Austinis make after the “ father ofTexas , ” settler Stephen F. Austin , who worked against Mexico ’s plan to illegalize slavery in the province of Tejas ( now Texas ) , explains theAustin American - Statesmannewspaper .
For this rationality , the capital ’s Equity Office has broached the idea of renaming the city itself . The proffer was quiet put forth in a story [ PDF ] published this hebdomad concerning the remaining Confederate monument in Austin . Much like the removal of Confederate statue in both Austin and across the U.S. , the suggested name change is part of a with child push to block up proclaim historic figures who excuse or supported slavery .
But do n’t go changing your return name and address labels just yet : The metropolis name modification was only get up within a larger report on all the street that would need to be renamed as part of the Confederate Monuments Resolution , which was fade last year . But the city has since state that that ’s as far as the moniker adjustment is likely to go .
“ I do n’t know anyone who is gravely champion to change the name , ” city spokesman David GreentoldThe New York Times . “ There are thing in our past that we may want to acknowledge and search at , but that does n’t stand for you want to rename a urban center , specially one named after someone who founded a republic that then became a state . ”
earlier , the metropolis of Austin was just a small settlement called Waterloo , and it was n’t rebranded as Austin until 1839 , when the Republic of Texas was just three years old . A change.org prayer to turn back to the city ’s original name , which was bug out more than five calendar month ago , has yet to gather even20 signatures — even if “ Keep Waterloo Weird”doeshave a certain ring to it . Still , any alteration to the capital ’s name would probably need an election , because the city ’s name would need to be put back on its charter , theStatesmanreports .
Within the same report , the agency also indicate changing the name of more than a dozen streets , park , andneighborhoodsin Austin , including Dixie Drive , Confederate Avenue , Plantation Road , and 10 street named for William Barton , a hard worker owner .
This report has been update to include the City of Austin ’s reply to the initial promotional material about the proposed name change .
