Letter: Renaming mania strikes local leaders

Graphic by Lori Deaton

Asheville’s and Buncombe County’s leaders seem to be afflicted with renamania — the urge to rename all facets of the community tainted by slavery.

The recent decision by City Council to consider renaming streets must go forward, no matter the cost of changing all those addresses. While they are at it, why not change the name of the city? After all, the city’s namesake is slaveholding Samuel Ashe.

The community does not stop at city limits. We should seriously consider changing the name of the county. How did Edward Buncombe, who raised a regiment to fight for the country’s independence, distinguish himself from scores of other slave owners who did likewise?

His regiment won no victories and, though he was honorably wounded in battle, as were thousands of others, his notoriety seems to stem from falling down the stairs while sleepwalking and bleeding to death.

Renaming Buncombe County won’t cost nearly as much as changing the city’s name. It’s not part of postal addresses. In fact, doing so will provide quite a boost to the economy. All the fees attorneys will earn revising decades of legal documents is more than a drop in the bucket.

And changing the county’s name will forever rid us of being known as the source of pure bunkum.

While we’re at it, let’s not stop at changing the names of places that might be racially offensive. How ’bout those that are insensitive to gender?

Since history is to be interpreted by today’s tastes and not by the messy past, what about the French Broad. Let’s make it the French Wide. And what about Beaucatcher Mountain?

Perish the thought that we might spend more energy and taxpayer dollars debating this name or that rather than on establishing systems to test, trace, and treat COVID-19 exposures; strengthen schools and job training to resolve economic and social inequity; provide health care to the infirm and elderly; and guarantee universal broadband access.

If we were to focus on these things, we would certainly earn a name for ourselves.

— John Ross
Asheville

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Letters
We want to hear from you! Send your letters and commentary to letters@mountainx.com

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

7 thoughts on “Letter: Renaming mania strikes local leaders

  1. Smitty

    If one street name is changed, then they all should be changed, as well as the name of the city and the county. To do otherwise would be hypocritical.

  2. Fun Times

    When will the changing begin? I’m looking forward to the ensuing chaos.

  3. Peter Robbins

    Enough grousing. If people want to stop all these name changes, they should write to their representatives on Jenkins Hill and Union Square. That’s what folks out here in Lapland do.

    • Stan Hawkins

      Come now, you know “problem solving” is out of season. This is the time of “problem harvesting.” We must be patient – as Chauncey Gardner said, “there will be growth in the spring.”

  4. Phillip Williams

    I think Skunkum County has a ring to it….and HeadUpYourAsheVille is a possibility. Seriously – if they are going to rename everything, they ought to avoid naming anything after people, regardless of how prominent or famous, and just go with geographical names or something from nature for places, and give streets numbers or something equally nondescript so as not to offend anyone.

    Although I’ll bet my wig someone, somewhere, will find something to be offended about.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.