Missouri City to change street named after KKK leader
For the past 18 months, a dedicated group of residents from Missouri City’s Vicksburg subdivision has been working to replace street names honoring the Confederacy with alternatives that promote inclusivity and harmony.
Most recently, Bedford Forrest will be renamed Liberty Way, a change now approved by the Missouri City Council. Nathan Bedford Forrest was a Confederate general in the Civil War and the first grand wizard of the original Ku Klux Klan.
“I’m so proud of the residents in this community, who decided to successfully rally together to finally change some of the longstanding offensive Confederate streets,” said Missouri City Councilman Jeffrey Boney, whose district includes the Vicksburg subdivision.
Changing a street name is not a simple task and involves several steps and logistical challenges.
“It is a process, and it’s not something that’s going to happen overnight, but it’s definitely something worthwhile,” said Rhonda Gilbo, who, with her husband Beau, started the initiative two years ago by seeking to rename her street, then Confederate Drive, to Prosperity Drive.
Boney was instrumental in amending Missouri City’s street-renaming code. Previously, 90 percent of property owners needed to sign a petition to have their street renamed. In September 2020, this requirement was lowered to 70 percent.
At the July 17 city council meeting, the threshold was further lowered to 60 percent, making the process even more accessible for residents seeking to rename their streets.
The petition to change the name Bedford Forrest Drive was submitted by residents Rodney and Angie Pearson, who bought their home on the street in 2006.
Speaking at the July 17 meeting, the Pearsons said they love their street and Missouri City, but feel the name’s history was a stain that needed to be eradicated. “(Under Forrest’s leadership) the Ku Klux Klan became very organized, at suppressing Black votes, other atrocious crimes, hangings. He was heralded,” Rodney Pearson said. “It doesn’t even have to be ‘Liberty Way;’ it can be ‘Duck Street.’ Just change the name.”
U.S. Rep. Al Green said he will personally cover the cost of street name changes.
“I think that we have for too long in our country, revered the enslavers and reviled the enslaved, the persons who came here not out of their own volition,” said Green. “They were forced to surrender their labor at no cost. The enslavers, on the other hand, have been honored for what they unfortunately did to maintain an institution that sacrificed lives, so that they could have comforts that enslaved never enjoy.”
The name change will take effect on Aug. 7.