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SELECTION CRITERIA FOR A SANTOS RODRIGUEZ STREET – Ed Sebesta 7/22/2021
These criteria would apply in general to selecting a street to be named after someone in the advance of social justice, but I am going to write more specifically towards renaming a street for Santos Rodriquez. I think the reader though can see how these criteria might apply to selecting a street in advance of social justice in other efforts. CRITERIA 1. Should not be in a marginal space: Often times a street will be renamed, but it will be in an out of the way place, or some place where the number of people will see it will be limited. This was the case in Dallas where when the Latino community won a contest to rename Industrial Ave., now Riverfront, to César Chávez, they were denied the street and eventually an unimportant and somewhat out of the way street was renamed César Chávez. For the full history with maps how the Latino community was denied you can down load this paper as a PDF at this URL. http://templeofdemocracy.com/struggle-overdallas-street-names.html. It is 85 pages and tells of the struggles to rename streets after civil rights leaders in Dallas from 1980 to 2015. 2. It should not be confined in a minority community: Often when a street is renamed it is a street which is entirely within a minority community as if it was a biohazard of sorts. When they renamed Oakland Ave. to Malcolm X Ave. the resistance was over the section which went into Deep Ellum in a white neighborhood. When you compare the maps of the original proposed street name changes for civil rights leaders with the final location of the streets which were changed, it becomes obvious that the renamed streets are contained like a biohazard. (For César Chávez see page 30, for African American civil rights leaders see page 85 in the paper “Struggle Over Street Name Changes,” accessible online to download at http://templeofdemocracy.com/struggle-over-dallas-street-names.html) The maps on these pages at the end of this document. The new street should be in a location where it will be prominent to the entire community in a highly visible location. Everyone of all backgrounds need to see that this person is being honored and know the history. The message sent by the street name needs to be perceived by the entire community.
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Though Dwayne Caraway wanted Lancaster Blvd. renamed Nelson Mandela Ave. I think it would be better to rename Preston Ave. to Nelson Mandela Ave. so that people in Preston Hollow and the students at the elite St. Marks school would comprehend that social justice is coming to America. For a Santos Rodriquez Street it needs to be in a prominent location.
3. Eliminate a racist street name: It would be best to choose, if possible, a street name that needs elimination. Even more so a street named after a person who specifically in history victimized the community for which you are trying to rename a street. For example, Ervay Street is named after Henry Ervay, who besides having a leadership role in re-establishing white supremacy in Dallas during Reconstruction and also being in the Confederate army as a quartermaster, was part of Walkers force that invaded Nicaragua to make it a slave state.1 Sam Houston spent his whole life advocating that the United States should make a protectorate of Mexico, and further advocated that the United States should take over all of Latin America. http://templeofdemocracy.com/ervay-street.html http://templeofdemocracy.com/houston.html At this page you can download a lengthy paper documenting his imperial dreams of aggression against Latin America as well as his racist sentiments, against Native Americans, Latinos, and African Americans and hatred of abolitionists and hostility against immigrants form Europe. It is 65 pages long though. He was really bad.
4. No one else is trying to have it changed for someone else: Mirabeau Lamar had several aggressions against Latin Americans. He attempted to invade and seize New Mexico from Mexico in an attempt which failed disastrously. He attempted to extort from the Nicaragua rights to have the U.S. build a canal which also would have been a loss of their sovereignty effectively. However, there is already an effort to rename all of Lamar Street to Botham Jean Blvd. which has been partially successful. Don’t worry, Dallas is clogged with racist streets, there are enough to go around for renaming.
1
“Life of Henry Ervay, Pioneer of Dallas,” Dallas Morning News, Jan. 7, 1912, page 4. This article also points out the street was named after him.
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5. Right a historic wrong/ Special case: Riverfront Blvd. should have been renamed César Chávez. However, to get it renamed now would be two street name changes. However, it would be great to rename Riverfront Blvd. after César Chávez. It would not only right a historic wrong, but serve as a lesson to the Dallas establishment that they can’t get away with their various tactics in resisting street name changes.
CANDIDATES 1. Ervay Street: It is named after Henry Ervay, who besides having a leadership role in re-establishing white supremacy in Dallas during Reconstruction and also being in the Confederate army as a quartermaster, was part of Walkers force that invaded Nicaragua to make it a slave state.2 Sam Houston spent his whole life advocating that the United States should make a protectorate of Mexico, and further advocated that the United States should take over all of Latin America. http://templeofdemocracy.com/ervay-street.html He also supported the Confederacy and re-established the Confederacy. Multiple groups were victimized by him. It is highly visible and goes through downtown. 2. Houston Street: He was a campaign for a white supremacist ethnostate and hoped to conquer and subjugate all of Latin America. How right it would be if in the end a street named after him was renamed for Santos Rodriguez. http://templeofdemocracy.com/houston.html At this page you can download a lengthy paper documenting his imperial dreams of aggression against Latin America as well as his racist sentiments, against Native Americans, Latinos, and African Americans and hatred of abolitionists and hostility against immigrants from Europe. It is 65 pages long though. He was really bad. It is highly visible and goes through the downtown area past important museums in Dallas: The Red Museum, The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, and the Dallas Holocaust Museum. It goes past Dealey Plaza and tens of thousands of tourists would see the street names.
2
“Life of Henry Ervay, Pioneer of Dallas,” Dallas Morning News, Jan. 7, 1912, page 4. This article also points out the street was named after him.
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3. Riverfront Blvd.: It was stolen from the Latino community. It is also a stupid name. There isn’t really any river front here. The avenue is largely away from the Trinity River. It has never been a navigable river for travel or transportation of goods. It is a prominent street. It would send a very strong message to the Dallas establishment if it was renamed.
STREETS NOT RECOMMENDED: 1. Lamar Street: It is already in the process of being renamed Botham Jean Blvd. 2. Belleview Street: It might be thought that it should be changed for the same reason Lamar St. was changed. It is next to the Dallas Police Headquarters. However, it has two big negatives. One, it is a rather short street. Two, it is out of the way. It is a cross-street in South Dallas and is a side-street. It doesn’t go through downtown. Also, choosing it doesn’t eliminate a racist enemy of Latin Americans off the streets of Dallas. Also, I think renaming Riverfront would have a huge impact. 3. Griffith Street: He was an antebellum preacher in Dallas. Surely, he believed in a proslavery theology. However, no records have been found. 4. There are many streets downtown named after slave holders and persons who were supporters of the Confederacy. I think though that a street that was named specifically after an enemy of Hispanics would be best. There is however, Akard Street, Harwood, Street, and Young Street which are prominent, and need to be changed. I just don’t think their name change would represent as strongly symbolic justice as the streets I am suggesting. Their crimes are not as prominent. CONCLUSION: These are some thoughts regarding street name changes. RECOMMENDED READINGS AND VIDEOS: http://templeofdemocracy.com/landscape-reparations.html At the dropdown menu for Dallas there is Dallas Streets and it has a dropdown menu for the individual streets. You can find articles about street names and fights over street names in Dallas. http://templeofdemocracy.com/dallas-streets.html
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In the above the red ------ is the original proposed renaming of Industrial to César Chávez but which became Riverfront instead, the black ----- is the next proposal to rename Ross to César Chávez, the blue ----- is a stretch of a service road which was renamed César Chávez. She announces that the city is taking a survey online as to what Industrial Blvd. should be renamed and gives the website URL and also the phone number where you can call in a vote as an alternative way of voting.
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The top map was the dreams of Elsie Faye Heggins, Marvin Crenshaw and Dwaine Caraway. Malcolm X is in Red, Martin Luther King in Black, Nelson Mandela in Green, Frederick Douglass in Blue, Ralph Bunche in Magenta, and Heggins’ Malcom X in Orange. The streets would have run through Dallas at large and these names would have been part of the everyday experience of Dallas persons of all races.
The bottom map is the reality. There is no Nelson Mandela street. The streets are contained in the then African American community. As that district gentrifies it will be interesting to see if any of the names will be retained. Al Lipscomb is in Blue, Elsie Faye Heggins in Purple, JB Jackson in Magenta, Martin Luther King is in Black and though not visible since it is one block long is Maurine Bailey in Light Blue.