An Alabama city is facing a $25,000 fine for changing a street named after Jefferson Davis - CNN
By: Christina Zdanowicz (CNN)
The people of Montgomery cannot even change the name of street honoring a racist traitor without the backwards State of Alabama trying to punish them.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The capital of Alabama is coming under fire and facing a large fine after removing a street name honoring president of the Confederacy.
Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed says replacing the Jeff Davis Avenue sign, named after Jefferson Davis, was the right thing to do. The street was renamed Fred D. Gray Avenue after the local civil rights icon in late October.
"We thought it was the right thing to do," Reed told CNN Friday. "We want to move forward with it as we try to seek a new image for Montgomery and a new beginning, and one focused more on the economic opportunities, our investments in public education and our investments in our people in our community, as opposed to relics of the past."
The state attorney general's office slapped the city with a $25,000 fine in a letter dated November 5. The letter was sent to city officials saying it was a one-time fine for violating the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017.
If the city does not pay the fine, it will face a lawsuit for violating the act, according to the letter.
"We have no comment on the matter concerning the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act," a spokesman from the Alabama attorney's general office wrote to CNN Monday. The letter was provided to CNN by the mayor's office.
The fine seems counterintuitive, as Confederate monuments and memorials are still coming down across the South. More than 160 Confederate symbols came down in 2020 after the killing of George Floyd prompted a national reckoning with racism, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The catch is the fine is not tied to removing a Confederate memorial. It stems from a 2017 law, which prohibits moving, removing, or renaming any memorial or monument "located on public property which has been in place for 40 years or more," according to the Alabama Historical Commission.
It made Mayor Reed wonder what leaders are trying to preserve, he said.
"If we were changing this name from Jefferson Davis Avenue to Stonewall Jackson Avenue, would that still be an issue?" Reed said. "What are we trying to preserve here? I think those are the questions that many of our leaders at the state level have to answer."
Another question Reed has is whether the name of a street qualifies as a monument, he said.
"This came around the time when statues were being removed from New Orleans and other cities around the country," he said. "I think we have to really look at this from a broader context."
The street was renamed after Gray, a prominent civil rights attorney who represented Rosa Parks after she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus, according to his law firm's website. He also represented Martin Luther King, Jr., several times.
The unveiling ceremony of the new street took place a few yards from Gray's childhood home October 26, according to the mayor's office.
The process to rename the street started in December 2020 took time, according to the mayor's office. The Montgomery City Council unanimously voted to approve the mayor's resolution October 5, 2021.
With the city facing the hefty fine, Reed said the city is looking into ways to resolve the issue.
"We have had donors from across the country offer to pay the fine, so we would not have to spend $1 of taxpayer money for that," he said. "We want to also make sure that we don't have the responsibility to challenge this law for a bigger issue as it relates to what cities and municipalities have the right to do and whether or not the law truly is unjust."
Reed said the city has not decided if it will pay the fine.
"We will continue to look at this in the broad view of how we want Montgomery to move forward and what really makes the most sense for us as a community," he said.
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They should definitely not pay the fine.
a compromise may be in order. confederate traitor avenue has a nice ring to it.
Seems fairly obvious what they are trying to preserve.
Street signs are not monuments.
Street signs are considered "placards" like a no Parking sign or a RT 66 sign.
There are estimated to be 40.1 million placards indicating routes, streets and safety & restrictions
None of them are monuments...
a "Corona St." sign in Denver is an endangered species.
Beer will never be an endangered species as long as I am alive.
I agree, they should not be subject to the law or fine. Not many people would want to drive to work on the Hitler Expressway or eat at a restaurant on Jeffry Dahmer Ave., changing confederate street names should clearly be allowed.
Though I do think hilarious street names should be left alone...
I live on a funny sounding road
Which is?
I won't say it here. Too afraid of doxxing
Spoil Sport.
Between the intersections of Laurel & Hardy and Abbott & Costello?
Any naming of streets after Jefferson Davis, Robert E Lee, or any other confederate traitors undoubtedly took place as part of the Lost Cause mythology. Now that this mythology has been exposed as a means to perpetuate white supremacy in the post Civil War south all such street signs, monuments, etc, should come down. Move the area into the 21st century.
The name is changed, the fine is paid. Everybody is happy. Well, except for the descendants of Jefferson Davis. Personally speaking, I might have to dig pretty deep to find compassion for them.
Well, maybe not everyone is happy, now whoever is a resident or business along the street will need to change their street address on their checks, letterheads, envelopes,etc. The fine should be disbursed to the residents to offset the extra expenses.
throw a pillowcase over the sign temporarily, to help keep the goobers from getting lost.
Legally, the state appears to be acting within its authority. State law does recognize and define a “memorial street.”
And the law specifically prohibits renaming a memorial street :
Why you would want to defend such things, though - to the point of fining a city for renaming a street - is beyond me.
Seems fitting for Alabama, wait it is Alabama.
Now that's funny!
Is that real?
I've seen signs like that here in Arkansas
Yes it is real..
Just for you Trout, can you interpert the meaning for us?
1. Farfrompoopen Road , Story. Yes, there really is a Story, Arkansas. And yes, there really is a Farfrompoopen Road.
Evidently on that road you're far from it LOL
Just for you Sister, Lake Jackson, TX.
I knew I heard of this town and it's possible I've been there because of my job.
Farfrompoopen sounds German. Ask a German...lol!
In German it means you are stuck farting because of constipation.
Farfrompoopen Road « Dvorak News Blog
Initially, I thought the change was for Freddie Gray - the guy killed in a police van in Baltimore - and I was fine with that. Then I realized they're talking about Fred D. Gray - a lawyer who goes home every day.
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Uh oh. Need to throw out that law. It's not in the constitution....