Confederate Avenue Evokes Old South, but May Get New Name

A roadway in Atlanta serves as a concrete reminder to drivers, joggers and neighbors that Georgia once took up arms against the United States of America. It’s called Confederate Avenue.

Running 1.4 miles (2.25 kilometers) from the leafy edges of gentrified Grant Park to the gritty bustle of Moreland Avenue, its name once got little notice. But now, amid a national re-examination of Confederate symbols, it’s a trigger for debate and a likely target for a new name.

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Atlanta is among several cities — including New Orleans, Baltimore, Dallas and Richmond, Virginia — that have been reviewing Confederate symbols. It wouldn’t be the first time Atlanta ditched a Civil War street name. Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard was once named for Confederate Gen. John B. Gordon; and Rev. Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard used to be Ashby Street, named after Gen. Turner Ashby.

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Joe Thomas of Atlanta woke up one Sunday morning in August — the day after Heather Heyer was run over by a car in Charlottesville, Virginia — and wrote an online petition calling for city leaders to rename Confederate Avenue. The petition now bears nearly 9,000 signatures.

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Thomas said he understands the argument that some monuments should be preserved as reminders of past mistakes, so they won’t be repeated. New signs or plaques have been added to some Confederate statues to provide context or another viewpoint of historic events — but that won’t work with street signs, Thomas says.

“Because of their nature, you can’t provide any context in a street sign,” he said. “So I think street signs in particular need to change.”

For the past decade, Alan Keck has carried a large Confederate battle flag as he jogged or walked around Grant Park, where Confederate Avenue begins.

The 68-year-old retired carpenter says he believes Confederate soldiers were honorable men fighting for states’ rights, and that even today states should have the right to secede from the union. He also believes that Atlanta, of all places, should preserve its historical connections to the Confederate States of America.

“I think a hysteria has gripped the nation lately,” Keck said of people who want to tear down Confederate monuments. “All they see is evil and darkness,” he said. “People like me believe in the Confederacy and what it stands for.”

“My gosh, we had the Battle of Atlanta within a short walk from my house,” said Keck. “We’re in the South. We’re in Atlanta. These are our roots.”

Every Sunday, Bishop O.C. Allen III leads the Vision Church of Atlanta in worship at the corner of Confederate and Ormewood Avenue in a building once known as Confederate Avenue Baptist Church.

“The Confederacy enslaved my ancestors,” says Allen, who is black, as are most members of his congregation. He began leading the church in 2010.

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“Changing a street name does not eradicate systems of racism and those types of things, but I think it’s a step in the right direction,” he added.

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In the neighborhood’s Facebook group, some suggested changing Confederate Avenue to Considerate Avenue.

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