As one born and raised directly on the other side of the Potomac, I unreservedly endorse the Alexandria's City Council.
And on a closely related topic, the Washington Post got secret permission to film and report on the partial dismemberment of Charlottesville's REL statue -- Lest Democracy Die in Darkness! Deliciously beautiful filming, especially the glowing end of Bobby Lee's face; only a few modern demons merit the same fate of "glowing to hell".
A sidebar related: "The Washington Post spent a day watching foundry workers cut up parts of Charlottesville’s statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, including the head and sword, and melt those in a furnace. Post journalists were allowed to join on the condition they did not identify the foundry’s location and state or record the workers’ faces to protect them and the facility." (It appears that the horse was spared. If no better use for the horse can be found, then I nominate the back half to be joined to the torso of a personage who has 91 counts falling on his also-orange-but-not-yet-glowing head.)
(Wapo is a pay site and I couldn't find the "gift article" box to click.)
Thanks for this - interesting read with a lot to think about. The ordinance itself also points to something that has always interested me about the intersection of good government administration and overtly political acts. The purpose of the ordinance is a good one - with the post-WWII growth in Alexandria, it was important to better and more purposely name streets, require certain property numbering conventions, etc. Just look at all the streets that went from "no name" to having one. However, it also provided an opportunity for those that wanted to make a political point to make their mark on what the final names ended up being. Not to put too much of a 21st century political spin on their efforts, but I can almost hear someone speaking about opposition to the ordinance framing it as a vote against good governance and progress, despite the step backwards that some of the names represented.
In the case of Alexandria, it also is interesting to see the intersection of Confederate Names, and the embrace of colonial era names - the ordinance takes a step toward the naming convention of what is now "old town" with the King and Duke street names that fit now with Queen, Prince, Princess, etc. For an area that embraces its founding fathers connections, the almost loyalist tinge to the names always fascinated me.
As one born and raised directly on the other side of the Potomac, I unreservedly endorse the Alexandria's City Council.
And on a closely related topic, the Washington Post got secret permission to film and report on the partial dismemberment of Charlottesville's REL statue -- Lest Democracy Die in Darkness! Deliciously beautiful filming, especially the glowing end of Bobby Lee's face; only a few modern demons merit the same fate of "glowing to hell".
A sidebar related: "The Washington Post spent a day watching foundry workers cut up parts of Charlottesville’s statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, including the head and sword, and melt those in a furnace. Post journalists were allowed to join on the condition they did not identify the foundry’s location and state or record the workers’ faces to protect them and the facility." (It appears that the horse was spared. If no better use for the horse can be found, then I nominate the back half to be joined to the torso of a personage who has 91 counts falling on his also-orange-but-not-yet-glowing head.)
(Wapo is a pay site and I couldn't find the "gift article" box to click.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/interactive/2023/civil-war-monument-melting-robert-e-lee-confederate/?utm_campaign=wp_the_5_minute_fix&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_fix&sourceApp=fusionWidgetLarge
Thanks for this - interesting read with a lot to think about. The ordinance itself also points to something that has always interested me about the intersection of good government administration and overtly political acts. The purpose of the ordinance is a good one - with the post-WWII growth in Alexandria, it was important to better and more purposely name streets, require certain property numbering conventions, etc. Just look at all the streets that went from "no name" to having one. However, it also provided an opportunity for those that wanted to make a political point to make their mark on what the final names ended up being. Not to put too much of a 21st century political spin on their efforts, but I can almost hear someone speaking about opposition to the ordinance framing it as a vote against good governance and progress, despite the step backwards that some of the names represented.
In the case of Alexandria, it also is interesting to see the intersection of Confederate Names, and the embrace of colonial era names - the ordinance takes a step toward the naming convention of what is now "old town" with the King and Duke street names that fit now with Queen, Prince, Princess, etc. For an area that embraces its founding fathers connections, the almost loyalist tinge to the names always fascinated me.
Thanks for the comment. I appreciate your point about the "intersection of good government administration and overtly political acts."