Thread: Dallas, TX: Caesar Chavez Re-Naming Issue Continues

This is a continuation of my previous thread, and the latest in this whole determination of "Latino activists" to re-name SOME street in downtown Dallas after Caesar Chavez.

Here's the previous thread with the whole saga:

http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-128486-0-da ... rasc-.html


The next story is a column about the continuing effort for the re-naming. The most interesting part of the article is this:

A plaza at the Farmers Market is already named for him.

So they already have a plaza at the Farmers Market in Downtown Dallas ALREADY named for Caesar Chavez??!! Sheesh! Guess that's not good enough for these "activists"!! They want a whole street ONLY located in Downtown Dallas re-named for Caesar Chavez.

Here's the column.

TexasGal


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 8e661.html


Let's take a middle road in César Chávez street debate

06:46 PM CDT on Wednesday, October 1, 2008

We’re all a little weary of the César Chávez naming controversy. At this point, maybe we should just go out to the State Fair midway and christen the César Chávez Merry-Go-Round.

But with all due modesty, I really think I’ve hit upon the perfect street to name for him.

Plenty of modesty is due because my track record is so rotten. I was the one who said at the start of all this that Industrial Boulevard shouldn’t be renamed at all. I still say the name has a certain gritty, old-school charm.

That suggestion went nowhere. At the moment, it’s likely to become Riverfront Boulevard.

When Latino leaders turned their attention to Ross Avenue, I surprised myself by finding no reason to object.

As much as I respect history, street names do change with the times. Lower Ross was once Carondelet, in fact.

But that proposal is now dead, and Latino leaders are back to Industrial.

I think they can do better.

I say Central Expressway should be renamed for Mr. Chávez.

Now hold your horses, I’m not talking about the big freeway. I’m talking about the other Central Expressway — the one you may not even be aware of.

There’s a surface street through downtown Dallas named, for some strange reason, Central Expressway.

It’s the perfect choice to rename for Mr. Chávez. And let me count the reasons why:

First, there is historic and symbolic relevance. At its northern end, at Live Oak Street, the new César Chávez Avenue would be just a stone’s throw from the city’s new Latino Cultural Center.

Proceeding south, the new César Chávez would pass right beside the Dallas Farmers Market and then over the downtown canyon into a commercial area full of distribution centers for agricultural products.

It’s the perfect location to pay tribute to Mr. Chávez and his struggle for farm workers.

A plaza at the Farmers Market is already named for him. Perhaps a statue could be added there to help educate future generations about his contributions.

Second, the new location would provide high, downtown visibility. I agree with Latino leaders who have said other suggested streets are a little demeaning, more an attempt to hide Mr. Chávez than to honor him.

His name and the new avenue would be featured prominently on exit signs along westbound R.L. Thornton Freeway (I-30) and on northbound S.M. Wright Freeway (U.S. 175/Spur 310).

Third, the name change would cause minimal disruption to businesses along the route. It’s not a street of high-density development. Driving its almost two-mile length, I spotted only one multi-story, multi-tenant building.

And fourth, the name change would actually fix a source of street-name confusion in Dallas.

When my kids were first learning to navigate their way around Dallas, I had to teach them that to get on Central Expressway you don’t take the exit that says Central Expressway.

Confusing, huh?

I wonder how many out-of-towners do take that exit and end up on the downtown street, wondering why the heck it’s called an expressway.

Personally, I’d like to honor Mr. Chávez and our Tejano history by giving the street a Spanish-style name — Avenida César Chávez.

Sounds pretty, don’t you think?

Sounds like a solution.

So they already have a plaza at the Farmers Market in Downtown Dallas ALREADY named for Caesar Chavez??!! Sheesh! Guess that's not good enough for these "activists"!! They want a whole street ONLY located in Downtown Dallas re-named for Caesar Chavez.

Left to them everything would be named Chavez something. Nothing is ever enough. They don't want to be a part of anything, they want to controll it all.