Mayor To Form Panel To Decide On Atlanta's Confederate Street Names

ATLANTA, GA -- Reflective after the tragedy in Charlottesville, Va., Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said Friday that the city will take a fresh look at all street names and monuments "linked to the Confederacy." The move comes amid calls from residents, and lawmakers, to remove emblems associated with the Old South's Civil War past from metro Atlanta's public spaces.

Officials in Stone Mountain, Decatur and Kennesaw are both grappling with how to deal with Confederate monuments as the debate rages anew due to recent national events. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

Reed said that Atlanta's diverse population called for a thorough review of all things Confederate in the city.

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"Atlanta has always been an intentional city. In keeping with this tradition, we plan to review all street names and monuments linked to the Confederacy," he said in a statement. "To do this, we will assemble a group of advisors to recommend a process for our community to determine the future of each street name and marker. We want to ensure that we approach this endeavor in a thoughtful matter. In the coming weeks, we will share more information about how concerned residents can support this effort.”

One week ago, protesters marched from downtown Atlanta's Woodruff Park to Piedmont Park, defacing the green space's "Peace" statue. Earlier in the week, Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields said someone should have been charged in the incident.

“I feel like that we should have identified, removed and arrested a couple of people earlier in the march, absolutely,” Shields told WSB-TV.

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Reed is one of more than 240 mayors who have signed a "Mayor's Contract Against Hate," an initiative to fight homegrown extremism and bigotry in the United States. The effort was facilitated by the Anti-Defamation League in the wake of Charlottesville.

Image via Mayor Kasim Reed / Instagram