The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed an effort by the city of Fredericksburg, Virginia to rename a street named for Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Earlier this week, the city council directed staff to begin the process of changing the name of Forrest Avenue. Forrest was also the first grand wizard of the racist Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and was accused of leading troops that massacred hundreds of surrendered troops, including black soldiers.
“We back all such efforts to remove any symbols meant to the Confederacy and its legacy of white supremacy and racism from governmental spaces in the nation,” said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper.
He noted that earlier this month, CAIR welcomed a ruling by a court in Tennessee that would allow cities to change Confederate-themed street names.
CAIR last month welcomed a decision to drop the name of a Confederate general for the highest mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in favor of the Cherokee name “Kuwohi.” In August, CAIR welcomed a ruling that an image of the Confederate flag may be removed from a Tennessee county’s seal.
Hooper said Washington, D.C., based CAIR has repeatedly called for the removal of Confederate names, holidays, flags, statues, and symbols nationwide.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com