The New Orleans City Council today unanimously voted to create a panel to study renaming "certain public streets, parks and places."
During debate, councilmembers specifically referenced streets and other assets that currently bare the names of Confederate leaders and white supremacists.
Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer insisted this will not rewrite history, but will change who New Orleans chooses to honor.
"For too long places of honor in this city have been occupied by undeserving men," she explained. "I am committed to changing that, and let me be clear I used the word 'honor' because that is the purpose of naming a street or park name or statue after a person."
She insisted the history of those individuals will live on.
"I am simply not willing to entertain the argument of those who say taking these down or changing them would somehow erase history. Books will still exist; the diaries, letters, newspaper accounts and a host of other sources will still exist."
The six to zero vote came after the reading of an hour of emailed in public comment, which council staff indicated was just a small part of the total number of comments on various sides of the issue. Councilman Jared Brossett was the only member not voting. He said earlier in the week that he was entering treatment after a DWI arrest after he crashed his city-issued vehicle.
The process of identifying the members of the panel, evaluating which names to change and choosing new ones is expected to take about a year.
In a separate measure co-authored by the entire council, a vote was pending to start by renaming Jefferson Davis Parkway after Dr. Norman Francis. Jefferson Davis was the president of the Confederacy. Francis was longtime president of Xavier University.