# Should Austin Texas change it's name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 31, 2018, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-austin-texas-change-its-name/818861 "2018-07-31T12:07:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-austin-texas-change-its-name/818861/101 "2018-08-03T23:21:16Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > unless it were named after someone really vile I suppose the crux of this issue is what constitutes “someone really vile”. There’s a very good argument that owning slaves is a truly vile act. Obviously, slavery is morally repugnant. People who owned slaves did something truly horrible. Often many truly horrible things. But there’s also a pretty good argument that being one of a whole class of slaveowners in a time when it was the general social order, as vile as that social order was, doesn’t constitute individual vileness. Or maybe it does. I’m conflicted on this subject and can see reasonable people taking either side. I’m sure that I am participating in a social order that future generations will consider to be totally vile. I’m not sure exactly what that is, but I have a few guesses. I hope that should I also do something individually good enough to get something named after me that those future generations will be kind to me and consider my transgressions in the context they were made. Kinder certainly than they will judge me to have been, mostly through ignorance and the ability to see beyond the culture in which one has been raised, to whichever group I am actively being vile to. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-austin-texas-change-its-name/818861/102 "2018-08-04T02:45:22Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Keep the name and say the town was named after an Air Force colonel? Austin Texas, state capital. Social Justice Warrior bona fides barely alive. Gentlemen, womym, and persons of other genders, we can re-name it. We have the White Liberal guilt. We have the capability to make the world’s first city name that’s an asterisk. - Texas will be that city. Loonier than it was before. Loonier… Leftier… Weirder… PS: I love Austin. I wish I could live there. I’m only joshing her about her Leftward tilt. \*The asterisk stands for anything you want it to. Old school conservative? Stephen F. Austin. Crunchy Liberal? Berkeley South. Kurt Vonnegut fan? A drawing of your asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-austin-texas-change-its-name/818861/103 "2018-08-04T06:21:42Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Clearly, this is something for the people of Austin to decide. > > But I question the rationale. Does the name of the city honor the name of the founder? If it supposed to, it’s not doing a very good job. I knew diddly-squat about the founder until I read the OP here. And now that I know, I don’t care. I suspect this is true for many Austin residents as well. [Please read the thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21121890&postcount=78). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-austin-texas-change-its-name/818861/104 "2018-08-04T08:36:01Z")
Yes. To Austin Massachusetts. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-austin-texas-change-its-name/818861/105 "2018-08-04T15:02:59Z")
My pick for Austin’s new name is Diddy Wah Diddy… _She don’t come from no town She don’t come from no city She lives way down in Diddy Wah Diddy_ Diddy Wah Diddy, Texas. Has a ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-austin-texas-change-its-name/818861/106 "2018-08-04T15:11:22Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > let’s say we just add an unnecessary apostrophe and call it a day. Austin Texa’s? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-austin-texas-change-its-name/818861/107 "2018-08-04T15:49:16Z")
Cities have changed names before. So, yeah, why not change the weird city’s name? Maybe they could find an indigenous name to use. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-austin-texas-change-its-name/818861/108 "2018-08-04T15:53:55Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > NO. Good God!! This is EXACTLY the slippery slope that leftists scoffed at after the statue removals. You can’t pick and choose your slaveholders man. If we can rename Austin, what’s next, Washington DC? Washington State? Everything named after Jefferson? Tear down their memorials? Remember people for the good they did, not the bad they did and stop whitewashing history! :shrug: I’m from Missouri, and I’m down with renaming Jefferson City. We call it “Jeff City” anyway. Do you think New York City should go back to “New Amsterdam”? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-austin-texas-change-its-name/818861/109 "2018-08-04T17:00:57Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Cities have changed names before. So, yeah, why not change the weird city’s name? Maybe they could find an indigenous name to use. Kickapoo, Texas! Original “shit kickers”! > **[Kickapoo people](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kickapoo_people)** > > The Kickapoo people (Kickapoo: Kiikaapoa or Kiikaapoi; Spanish: Kikapú) are an Algonquian-speaking Native American and Indigenous Mexican tribe, originating in the region south of the Great Lakes. Today, three federally recognized Kickapoo tribes are in the United States: the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas, the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma, and the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas. The Oklahoma and Texas bands are politically associated with each other. The Kickapoo in Kansas came from a relocation f... ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-austin-texas-change-its-name/818861/110 "2018-08-04T17:51:56Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > :shrug: I’m from Missouri, and I’m down with renaming Jefferson City. We call it “Jeff City” anyway. > > Do you think New York City should go back to “New Amsterdam”? Typical Lancastrian propaganda. > [@elucidator](#): > > Kickapoo, Texas! Original “shit kickers”! > > [Kickapoo people - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kickapoo_people) U of T Kickapoo fight song [already written](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvvjiE4AdUI). ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-austin-texas-change-its-name/818861/111 "2018-08-04T20:28:12Z")
There must be a school somewhere in Texas, where Baptists send their kids because Baylor isn’t conservative enough. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-austin-texas-change-its-name/818861/112 "2018-08-07T21:08:36Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > That makes no sense. Au’s not tin; it’s gold. Well, there you go. Either **Au’sgold** or **Snistin** as the new name. It’ll be chemically correct if nothing else. > [@Tzigone](#): > > But yes, I also think it’s okay to judge people who want to stick to old offensive names (think of those town names that call for death to Jews or catching escaped slaves, etc.) I don’t know of any such names. Which ones? > [@senoy](#): > > Maine is likely ultimately named after the Aulerci Cenomani, a Gaulish tribe that likely practiced human sacrifice. Much more likely is that it got its name because it was the mainland, as opposed to all the islands off its coast. Naming that state after a province of France is somewhat plausible, but you’re going to have to find who did it to be convincing. > [@senoy](#): > > That’s true. What is New Orleans going to do? It’s named for the Emperor Aurelius who massacred up to 7000 striking mint workers and murdered the Emperor Gallienus. He was certainly a slave holder and may have been the guy who destroyed the Library of Alexandria. When people name a town after someone or something, the ultimate source of the name is not who they’re naming the town after. In the case of New Orleans, it was named after a Duke of Orleans, who was the uncle of the king and his regent. The fact that the name Orleans can be traced back to the Roman Empire is irrelevant. I’m struggling to think of a large city in the US that’s changed its name and can’t come up with any. It’s not that none have changed their name, but they all did so while they were small. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-austin-texas-change-its-name/818861/113 "2018-08-07T21:46:25Z")
There are far better candidates than Austin, Texas. If we’re going to start renaming places, we should start with places like Fort Gordon–named after a Confederate General and head of the KKK in Georgia. We honor this person, an enemy of The United States, with a military installation!? Or what about the other nine bases across the country named after Confederate Generals, some of whom were investigated for war crimes? I think Austin, Texas ranks low on the list for places that need to be renamed. Hell, just 60 miles north of there is Fort Hood. They could start there. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-austin-texas-change-its-name/818861/114 "2018-08-07T22:32:02Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > There are far better candidates than Austin, Texas. If we’re going to start renaming places, we should start with places like Fort Gordon–named after a Confederate General and head of the KKK in Georgia. We honor this person, an enemy of The United States, with a military installation!? Or what about the other nine bases across the country named after Confederate Generals, some of whom were investigated for war crimes? I think Austin, Texas ranks low on the list for places that need to be renamed. Hell, just 60 miles north of there is Fort Hood. They could start there. Or Fort Bragg, the largest military base in the world, and named after a general with a reputation for incompetence. Deserved or not. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-austin-texas-change-its-name/818861/115 "2018-08-07T23:30:01Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > If we’re going to start renaming places, we should start with places like Fort Gordon–named after a Confederate General and head of the KKK in Georgia. We honor this person, an enemy of The United States, with a military installation!? Being it’s in East Georgia and on the South Carolina border, I’ve got a delightful proposal for what Union General’s name to give it… I mean, as long as a bunch of people there can’t seem to get over him 150+ years later… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-austin-texas-change-its-name/818861.md?page=5)