Leaving Racism and Confederate History Behind

New Charlotte street names honor African American history.

By Anders J. Hare

A blanketing of social and political unrest happened in 2020, as Americans reckoned with how to move forward following the murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, as well as the killing of Breonna Taylor. Many discussed the systemic racism and white supremacy sewed into the fabric of our country’s history and questioned how to effectively denounce these ideologies from our society.

That summer, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles gathered 15 historians, journalists and public servants to form the Charlotte Legacy Commission. Together, the commission to eliminate the memorialization of slave owners, Confederate leaders and white supremacists on city street signs to “create a new symbolic landscape that represents the dynamic and diverse city Charlotte has become and reflective of the inclusive vision it strives to achieve,” according to the city of Charlotte.

Dr. Karen Cox, consultant for the Legacy Commission and professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC), and Dr. Willie Griffin, consultant for the Legacy Commission and historian for the Levine Museum of the New South presented several Charlotte street names that honored slave owners, champions of the Confederacy, and proponents of white supremacy, many of which were situated in historically Black neighborhoods. The commission ultimately recommended nine streets to Charlotte City Council to be named.

“[Dr. Griffin] gave us (who is “us”? – the Legacy Commission?) a talk (where and when did he give the talk) called ‘Slavery, the Civil War and the rise of white supremacy in Charlotte’ and that was just so invaluable to helping us understand how the streets had been named,” Emily Zimmern, appointed Legacy Commission chair, said.

Over the course of about six months, the commission deliberated over responses to a community survey the city of Charlotte conducted in communities and surrounding areas where the old street names existed to help find names that would serve and honor the people of Charlotte. Zimmern, who served as the President and CEO of the Levine Museum of the New South from 1995 to 2015, said the commission collected over 1,500 completed surveys.

The new names of streets became effective from September 2021 through the summer of 2022.

Streets like Barringer Drive in West Charlotte, named for slave owner John Paul Barringer and his sons who espoused white supremacy ideals, were renamed to reflect the history and impact of Black residents where the streets are located. Barringer Drive, for example, was renamed Revolution Park Drive on May 23, 2022, honoring the history of the once-segregated Revolution Park and Dr. Charles L. Sifford Golf Course.

“The most touching [part] to me was people who lived on streets like Jefferson Davis Street [renamed Druid Hills Way] which is in the middle of the African American neighborhood Druid Hill and residents there said, Tthis could have happened years and decades ago,’” Zimmern said. “The sentiment was, ‘We’ve lived with this affront every day, and it’s that time and I hope they really do it this time kind of thing,’” she said.

Mary Newsom, a member of the Legacy Commission and former director of Urban Policy Initiatives at the UNCC Urban Institute, said the actions of the commission open doors for more doors for questioning the past.

“You start looking at why and the context and the why things happen in the context within which they happen are a really important piece of history. It’s not just dates and names, it’s context and cause,” Newsom said.

“The people who write the history, get to put their spin on it and it’s important to look and say, ‘Wait, who is writing this? And what is their spin? And do we want to change that spin and rewrite it in a different way?’” she added.

Nearly two years after the Charlotte Legacy Commission finished the project, its recommendations continue to have an impact on Charlotteans and their knowledge of the city’s history. Dr. Kelley Eaves-Boykin, Chairman of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Black Heritage Committee and a Charlotte native, said the changes bring a sense of pride to Charlotteans.

“Charlotte has a huge African American presence and lots of African Americans that made great history,” Dr. Eaves-Boykin said. “One of the things with the Charlotte Metro Black Heritage Committee is we’re out here making sure that people understand that we did have a history.” She added, “We have so many people transplanting into Charlotte, and they don’t know about Brooklyn, they don’t know about the neighborhoods. And so having those name changes brings it back to light it lets people see that Charlotte is an inclusive city that we are looking to highlight the history of all people, not just one people or one era.”