NEW ORLEANS — It seems at this point the question isn’t if Jefferson Davis Parkway will be renamed but when.
The City Planning Commission voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of renaming the street in honor of Norman Francis.
The City Council is expected to vote on the possible renaming during its Aug. 20 meeting.
If the council votes in favor of the name change, it might not happen until early next year because of the fall election and census.
As the City Council noted in its request for the change, the roadway was renamed in 1910 for the lone president of the Confederacy. It could soon honor Francis, the longtime president of Xavier University and a civil rights pioneer.
“Being able to honor Dr. Francis on a street that goes in front of the university that he dedicated his life to, it just warms my heart,” said Mark Raymond, who led the idea for the change.
He is also vice chairman of the new Street Renaming Commission and drafted a policy to set criteria when considering if something should be renamed.
Among the questions the commission will ask:
- Does a street name or place honor a white supremecist?-Is there harm in keeping an existing name or renaming something?
- Is there any historical significance to the city?
It’s a process Raymond says the commission doesn’t want to rush.
“We’re trying to be good civil servants and do this work the right way to bring consensus to the entire community,” he said.