Victory! Another Anti-Southern Bigot Fail!
Effort to rename Confederate Street after late activist fails in Jacksonville City Council
( Shtuff happens… Our thanks go out to the 10 council members who voted against the renaming. - DD)
In a 10-7 vote Tuesday, Jacksonville’s City Council decided against renaming the Springfield street after the late local civil rights activist Ben Frazier.
Confederate Street spans just 0.2 miles, and it leads to the former Confederate Park — since renamed Springfield Park — where bronze Confederate statues once stood. Mayor Donna Deegan removed the last of those statues last year, six months after the death of one of their most vocal detractors, the 73-year-old Frazier. He died of cancer in June 2023.
Kelly Frazier, the late activist’s daughter, predicted earlier during Tuesday’s meeting that the legislation to honor her father would fail.
“This will be an unfortunate decision, and will reflect poorly on City Council, as well as our entire community, which yearns for progress and unity,” said Frazier, president of the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, which her father previously helmed.
When the vote was tallied later that evening, those who voted against the renaming included Council President Randy White and members Kevin Carrico, Raul Arias, Joe Carlucci, Terrance Freeman, Nick Howland, Mike Gay, Will Lahnen, Chris Miller and Ron Salem. Council members Rory Diamond and Ju’Coby Pittman had excused absence from the meeting.
It wasn’t until after the vote that any council discussion was had on the topic, though none of the people who voted against the bill offered up their reasoning.
Council member Michael Boylan said he was not a fan of Frazier’s, but…