According to the DallasMorningNews: A new report by the city’s Equity Office recommends a new name for the city because of Stephen F. Austin’s ties to the Confederacy and support of slavery, including opposition to Mexico’s attempt to ban slavery. He said freed slaves would be “vagabonds, a nuisance and a menace.”
Austin is known as the “father of Texas” for bringing 300 families to what was then part of Mexico. He served as secretary of state to the Republic of Texas. He died in December 1836 at age 43. The Civil War began in 1861.
The suggestion was met with ire on social media.
Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush tweeted: “Without Stephen F. Austin, there’d be no Texas. To rename the City of Austin would be an insult to his legacy and all those who fought for Texas independence.”
Even the city’s reports asks “what’s next and where do we stop?” the Austin American-Statesman reported.
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