Phoenix Changes 'Offensive' Street Names

PHOENIX — The city of Phoenix has voted to rename two streets seen by many as offensive.

The Phoenix City Council made the name changes official on Wednesday after voting unanimously to move forward with the renaming in September.

Robert E. Lee Street will now become Desert Cactus Street and Squaw Peak Drive will change to Piestewa Peak Drive, in honor of fallen Native American soldier Lori Piestewa. Piestewa was a member of the Hopi tribe and was killed during an ambush in Iraq in 2003 — the first Native American woman to die in combat. The nearby mountain was renamed for her that year, but the street name never followed suit until now.

The new names are scheduled to go into effect on March 1.

Robert E. Lee Street is named after the Confederate general who led the uprising against the United States in the Civil War. “Squaw” is a slur historically used to describe Native American women. Officials across the country have faced pressure to remove Confederate monuments in recent years.

“We are looking forward to having street names that reflect our values. We don’t want shadows of the confederacy, or for a young girl, like the daughters we talked about here today, to see that street name as they drive to school or about in our community,” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said.

According to Gallego's statement, posted to Twitter, the change took place after four months and approximately six public hearings with input from the community and tribal leaders.

But not everyone was in agreement with the decision, particularly those who live on the streets.

“I’m mad as hell this whole thing was pushed into the throats of the residents,” Rick Klawitter said. “There are so many places that addresses exist, that our addresses are part of our records. Online shopping, banking, all the city services, but it doesn’t matter. They don’t care about that.”

A plan to reimburse residents and businesses affected by the street name change was also approved at the September city council meeting. The city has estimated it will cost $3,800 to replace the street signs and about $28,000 to reimburse residents.

Councilman Carlos Garcia acknowledged that the change will be difficult for some, but hopes everyone “shows the same grace as we continue to push policy changes for Black lives.”

The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.