California city to retain Confederate general's name after year of debate [View all]

For more than a year, officials in a northern California coastal town have been debating whether they should rename.

This week, the commission examining the issue said that, for now, the Fort Bragg name is here to stay. But the effort highlights the challenges that come as cities, schools and parks across the US reconsider controversial placenames with racist histories.

After the murder of George Floyd in 2020 prompted a national examination of systemic racism in the US, the small California town of Fort Bragg commissioned a group of citizens to examine the possibility of changing its name.

The name had been in place since it was established as a military post in 1857. Braxton Bragg, the slave-owner Confederate army general for whom the city is named, reportedly never stepped foot in the area, but the post established in his name was responsible for controlling rebellious Indigenous tribes, part of a grim history in the area, a local teacher told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/california-city-to-retain-confederate-generals-name-after-year-of-debate/ar-AATgT90