Official wants new name for street titled Confederate Avenue

ATLANTA – A Georgia official is asking for an Atlanta street titled Confederate Avenue to be renamed.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Atlanta City Council Member Carla Smith filed legislation this week asking Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to rename the street. Smith’s legislation also called for Bottoms to rename two streets in Grant Park: East Confederate Avenue and Confederate Court S.E.

The City Council will hold several public meetings next month on the name change. A city ordinance requires 75 per cent of residents and property owners on the streets in question to petition for the name change, and Grant Park residents have been gathering signatures.

Former Mayor Kasim Reed created a committee last year charged with studying the city’s Confederate iconography. It recommended the immediate renaming of streets associated with Confederate leaders.

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Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com