It’s been about five years since the protests that forced the city’s hand on removing a series of Confederate statues across New Orleans, including Robert E. Lee’s. Lee’s statue was taken down in May of 2017 amid fierce pro and anti-confederate protests, but the site’s name remained until now.
Councilwoman Lesli Harris brought the proposal. She said in 1877 the council dedicated the ground to the Confederate general.
“This was all less than 20 years from the conclusion of the Civil War and part of a clear effort to glorify the Confederacy and perpetuate racial inequality,” said Harris.
There was some opposition from Italian American activists who argued the site should revert back to its old name Tivoli Circle. Italian American Federation of the Southeast President Charles Marsala argued Italian groups were frozen out of the renaming process, and the site should revert to Tivoli in remembrance of the 1891 lynching of 11 Italian Americans in New Orleans.
“We feel we qualify for this remedy, and yet we were never allotted any of the 37 streets, we were never allowed to talk about Tivoli Circle,” said Marsala.
Councilmembers argue the grass around what is now Harmony circle is still Tivoli Circle while the space inside of that circle is Harmony Circle.
