After last weekend's white supremacist demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned deadly, members of the Austin City Council have announced that they will begin the process of renaming Robert E. Lee Road in South Austin.
According to the Austin-American Statesman, City Council members are in discussion to draft a proposal that would change the name of the road, with member Ann Kitchen saying she would submit an application that would offer a chance for the community to suggest alternatives. In addition to the protests, discussion of the name change was also prompted after the street signs were vandalized over the weekend. A petition to rename Robert E. Lee Road is also being circulated among Austin residents, and had more than 13,000 signatures as of this afternoon.
Changing the road's name would not happen overnight—the process would take months, and would take into consideration the costs of a name change, the concerns and opinions of residents, and public safety issues. But the issue has widespread support in Austin. Mayor Steve Adler made a statement on his own Facebook in support of the change, saying "The time has come for us to change the name of Robert E. Lee Road. There are so many other wonderful things for us to honor that very clearly speak to the values and the character of Austin."
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