That’s a Name-Changer! In Austin, the Racial Politics of Names is Exposed as Just Another Top-Down, Authoritarian Strategy

[“No to Austin, Yes to Barack Obama Elementary: What America is Doing to Itself with Renaming Frenzy.”]
 

By Jeigheff
Friday, August 3, 2018 at 8:29:00 A.M. EDT

Here in weird ol’ Austin, Texas, Robert E. Lee Street and Jeff Davis Street were recently renamed. The City of Austin polled the residents to see if they wanted their streets renamed or if they wanted them to stay the same. Most residents said to leave the street names alone. The City changed them anyway.

Codenext is another controversial issue here. It's a set of regulations that lets developers do pretty much whatever they want to Austin's properties. It's not popular. The City hasn't done a very good job of promoting Codenext or of letting people know its true potential impact on their neighborhoods. Most members of the City Council have also fought hard to keep it off the ballot. After all, the people of this city can't be trusted to make good decisions.