The wave of removing Confederate monuments continued this week in Hollywood, Florida, where city commissioners decided to change three street names featuring Confederate generals: Robert E. Lee, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and John Bell Hood.
After more than six hours of debate, with over 140 people signed up to speak at the public hearing, city commissioners decided that street names, one of which runs through a predominantly black neighborhood, were offensive and had to be changed. CBS Miami has more:
The three streets to be renamed are Lee Street, which is named after Gen. Robert E. Lee; Hood Street, named after Gen. John Bell Hood, and Forrest Street, named after Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest.
John Bell Hood, Robert E. Lee and Nathan Bedford Forrest all fought for the Confederacy and to preserve slavery. Forrest was also the first Grand Wizard of the KKK. The street named after him runs through a predominantly black neighborhood.
Those protesting the signs said their removal will mean much more than just projecting cultural sensitivity.
“We must take care of our children and tell them of our history,” said one woman. “Teach them how to forgive, how to love, how to have compassion, how to show empathy. Tearing down the names of Hood and Lee, that don’t change nothing, it doesn’t change character.”
“This is not a racial matter. People have turned it into that. What it is — is a moral matter. And, we have too much immorality that we are exposed to,” said another man.
State Representative Shevrin Jones said the city can now begin to heal following the signs’ removal.
“Now that these street names have happened, now we can move on. Now we can begin to heal this city, begin to heal this nation. Hollywood has had this conversation that our nation, that the U.S., that we can come together as a nation and do what’s right,” he said.
Police outside City Hall were on careful watch to ensure no violence would take place. Fortunately, the majority of protesters were in favor of the removal.
“Why would we have a street named in honor of the first grand wizard of the modern KKK?” asked Dara Hill, a Hollywood resident.
Hollywood, Florida, represents a solid example of how the removal of Confederate monuments should take place. The town debated, heard all sides, and voted they wanted the streets changed. This issue should be decided by local municipalities, not coastal SJWs 3,000 miles removed from the situation, and certainly not hordes of Antifa anarchists.