Roads Honoring Confederate Generals in Fairfax Co. To Be Renamed

Two of Fairfax County’s busiest roads, Lee Highway and Lee-Jackson Memorial Highway in Virginia, will get new names.

What those names will be still isn’t clear though, after a Confederate Names Task Force voted overwhelmingly to change the current monikers associated with stretches of U.S. Route 29 and U.S. Route 50. Some names will be suggested at the next meeting later this month.

Members of the task force who voted to keep the name pointed out that a slight majority of the tens of thousands of respondents preferred to keep the name.

“I think it’s fundamentally dishonest of us to ignore or overlook that feeling,” argued Robert Floyd, who also cited the recent gubernatorial election and the issue of history and how it’s taught as a reason to move cautiously with any changes.

Others argued on the task force that the response rate hardly suggests an accurate or scientific representation of how county residents as a whole feel, and that while the response rate overall was higher than usual, it was still statistically insignificant.

More than one who voted in favor of the change also argued that changing the names amounted to “erasing history.” {snip}

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Ultimately, the task force voted 20-6 in favor of changing the name of Lee Highway, and 19-6 to change the name of Lee-Jackson Memorial Highway, with one member there abstaining.

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