Charlottesville city council Tuesday took the first steps to yet again change the name of the downtown parks at the center of August 12th’s white supremacist rally.
For more than 90 years, two downtown parks were known for their giant statues of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. But now, unable to remove the statues pending a lawsuit, the two granite men have massive black tarps over them, and last June, councilors voted for new names.
Jackson Park became Justice Park, and Lee Park became Emancipation Park.
But Charlottesville native Mary Carey felt differently. “Emancipation means people are supposed to be free, they’re supposed to be able to move about like everybody else,” said Mary Carey. “Well, it’s been centuries, and we’re still, as black people, still trying to move around about like everybody else, trying to live like everybody else, we trying to be lawmakers like everybody else, and we’re getting tired of it.”
Two-hundred and fifty people signed Carey’s petition. On Tuesday night, councilors voted to start the process anew for both parks.
Last year, a lengthy process led the city to suggest hundreds of names: Monacan Park, Community Park,
Sally Hemmings Park, Vinegar Hill Park, Unity Park. Over the next two months, the city will advertise all of those suggestions, opening up a new name submission process as well — online, by telephone, and by mail
accompanying utility bills. The city will compile those names and resubmit them to the public for another vote.
According to councilors, only one thing's for sure: None of those names will be Lee or Jackson.