A report collected by Austin's Equity Office suggests the city council should look into renaming the city because Stephen F. Austin was a firm slavery supporter.
On July 26, the Equity Office sent a memo to the mayor and city council identifying city-owned monuments and memorials of the Confederacy on city-owned property, which includes streets and buildings that are under review to be renamed.
The Equity Office made two lists for review, "Assets Slated for Initial Review" and "Assets for Secondary Review."
The first list represents assets that are directly related to the Confederacy and/or the Civil War. These assets are recommended as a priority for immediate action to be renamed. These assets include street names such as Dixie Drive, Confederate Avenue, Plantation Road, Tom Green Street and Reagan Hill Drive.
The second list represents assets that require more analysis or were not directly linked to the Civil War and the Confederacy. The Equity Office says assets on this list are considered within the spirit of the resolution representing slavery, segregation and/or racism.
Included on the secondary list for review are parks like Pease Park, named after Elisha M. Pease, a one-time Governor of Texas and slave owner, and the Barton Springs pool and bathhouse, named after William Barton, who was also a slave owner.
The city's name was categorized in the secondary list that would require more analysis.
The report considers renaming Stephen F. Austin Drive, the city's name, and the recreational center with medium priority citing Stephen F. Austin "fought to defend slavery in spite of Mexico's effort to ban it," he "believed slave labor indispensable for Texas to flourish in its production of sugar and cotton; believed that if slaves were emancipated they would turn into 'vagabonds, a nuisance and a menace." The citation, given from Eugene Barker's The Life of Stephen F. Austin, 1926, concluded by saying he "wanted slaveowners to be compensated if their slaves were emancipated."
The memo states the goal of the report was to identify city-owned Confederate-named assets, analyze the cost of remediating or removing these assets and provide guidance on the remediate of said assets. Assets for initial review may be immediately acted upon, while secondary assets can be remediated in the future with more input and direction from the city council.
"This process not only calls attention to remediating symbols of the Confederacy in our city, but creates a new opportunity for us to rename these symbols in order to commemorate the current values and legacy of those we choose to honor in our community's public spaces," the memo states.
The report comes from a resolution passed by city council in Oct. 2017 tasking the city manager with collecting information about all city-owned Confederate monuments and memorials on city property, including street names and buildings. This excludes the Texas State Capitol, the University of Texas, AISD and federally protected buildings.
The Equity Office recommended the city council consider renaming the public symbols to recognize the contribution of women and people of color.
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