The mayor of Jackson no longer wants the city’s name to be associated with former President Andrew Jackson.
Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba posted on Facebook that he wants people to correlate the city’s name with its Hebrew meaning.
“When I took office, I found out that Jackson means ‘God has shown favor,’” Lumumba said. “We want to reclaim the name of our city for that meaning and divorce it from the legacy of a brutal owner of enslaved people who were instrumental in initiating the Trail of Tears against indigenous people. This is no different.”
Lumumba’s motion to “reclaim the name” of Jackson comes one day after the city council approved his request with a 5-1 vote to relocate the statue of Andrew Jackson that currently sits in front of City Hall.
“While removing a statue does little to change our condition as oppressed people, we should not have to constantly encounter the likeness of those who profited off the blood, sweat, and despair of our ancestors or see them immortalized as honorable,” Lumumba said.
Here is the mayor’s social media post in its entirety:
