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Why are they changing Ross? Why can't they name some freeway ro new street after him. This is a hit for our city's history.

What connection did Cesar Chavez ever have to Dallas? Did he ever set foot in Dallas? I honestly don't know, so that's why I'm asking.

His connection is that he's mexican.

be patient, Emilio. When the Calatrava bridges are built, the cabras can safely cross the raging Trinity.

Although I certainly don't think we should be changing street names, I think it's fair to point out that Chavez was born in Yuma, Arizona in 1927. Not sure if he was considered a legal US citizen under the laws of the time...

At least Trini Lopez was born in Dallas in 1937 and he even had his own signature guitar model by Gibson. If the street must be renamed, Trini gets my vote and Emilio gets the cabras!

I agree with you DallasWill. Ross Ave should keep it's name. There are plenty of other streets or highways that could be named after Chavez, if we simply MUST have one.

Spanky:

We must! We must! All the progressive cities are doing it....

I think changing the name of Ross Ave is a ridiculous idea. For one it was actually named for someone so it is a dishonor to them to rename it for some else. Second, it's part of my history and Dallas' history. I was married in the Chase tower on Ross avenue and while it's very personal to me, I don't want my kids one day looking at our wedding invitation and asking where is Ross Ave in Dallas. Is there a reason that we can't name a highway or one of the new bridges after Chavez??

Why is it that we take street names from perfectly good white people who were from dallas or had something to do with dallas and give them to latinos THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE HISTORY OF DALLAS!!! Why Cesar Chaves???? Why not name it for a latino that helped the dallas area.... Just because other cities are doing it doesn't mean we have to... Screw the City Council... they're just a bunch of disoriented wackos with their own agendas.. And for that matter SCREW our mayor, who's nuthin but a punchline to a bad joke...

Folks, this is far, FAR from over.

The vote today by the Trinity Committee was a way to placate the Latino community, push it out of the way of re-naming Industrial and get it out of Dave Neumann's seat.

Once the businesses in the Trammell Crow center and the other skyscrapers on Ross figure out how much it will cost to redo their stationary, etc. this will be dead in the water.

I fully expect Angela Hunt to rebuff any attempt to rename Ross.

Incidentaly, Chávez was hired and trained by Fred Ross as a community organizer in 1952 for the Community Service Organization (CSO), a Latino civil rights group.

Why cannot Ross remain Ross Ave in honor of Fred Ross?

Ross should stay Ross. It is a good name that has some meaning. Plus downtown is confusing enough without them renaming the one street that I use as my navigation base down there.

Chavez has nothing to with Texas. Trini Lopez gets my vote.

If I had a hammer...I’D HAMMER OUT DANGER, I’D HAMMER OUT WARNING to all those newcomers wanting to destroy Dallas history.

Trini or his brother Jesse LoPassage or Lee Trevino Tex-Mex Golf Links, or Mariano Margarita-way or Maria Luna Tortilla Flats or Eddie Garcia Kick-Through or Anita Martinez Avenue or even Santos Rodriguez Street - this is Dallas history which can be enshrined.

I agree, Ross should keep its current name. If we must rename a street for Chavez, how about Canton Street? It passes the farmers market, is highly visible and is not named after a Dallas resident.

I am all for honoring Trini as he was a Dallasite and thus certainly more deserving of a street name in Dallas. Plus the guitar is pretty cool.

Keep Ross as Ross.

I'd be in favor of renaming Industrial after Lee Trevino, but that's kind of a dishonor to the Merry Mex himself, as he deserves a street in a better part of town.

Why don't we just rename Jenny the elephant?

The Ross Brothers, Arturo and Xavier, came to this country in 1911 from Greenland, where their family was in the dog fur business. They had hoped to start a parka-making business here but had failed to research the climate before coming and ended in bankruptcy. They were deeply humiliated by their business failure and changed their names to Goss, a word that means idiot in Greenlandic. Self-flagellating name changes following business failures are commonplace in Greenlandic culture, which is very depressive. For decades Arturo ("Art") and Xavier ("Spike") Goss lived in a crude lean-to at what is now Ross and Peak, subsisting on crow meat and selling tanned crow hides to the small French population still living nearby, who used the hides in beret-making. Eventually of course they founded their successful and well known used car business, Goss on Ross. After yet another name change when they got into the big money, most of the family now live in the Park Cities under their more recent name, Crow. Art and Spike Goss are no longer living, but an old East Dallas tradition is that you can still call the crows on Ross by standing under a shade tree and calling out, "GOSS ON ROSS! GOSS ON ROSS!"

What a slap in the face of every Dallasite Hispanic who has worked hard for their community. Name the street after someone who has a bond with Dallas.

Since the Hispanic Dallas ISD trustees did not support the renaming of the Dallas ISD headquarters on 3700 Ross Avenue in honor of former Dallas ISD trustee Kathryn Gilliam, the vote of Dallas ISD trustees to support renaming Ross Avenue in honor of Cesar Chavez will be interesting to say the least. Maybe now that Ross Avenue will be renamed in honor of Cesar Chavez it will much easier to also rename the Dallas ISD headquarters in honor of Cesar Chavez.

i love the idea of naming a street after trini lopez...it paves the way (rock me) for trini martinez drive. the bedhead drummer is the second most famous trini in the history of dallas music. on second thought, "drive" might not fit. that guy never drove the van.

Imagine the uproar if they voted to change MLK Blvd to Cesar Chavez...

Mr. Diaz,

Honest question for you....

How many streets, buildings, etc. does the Hispanic community want re-named for Cesar Chavez?

The plaza at the Farmer's Market is already named for him, there is an elementary school (on Ross and Carroll)named for him, and now this misguided attempt to re-name Ross.

How much is enough?

The fact that Ross is beginning to gentrify and pushing the Hispanic businesses off only adds to this insult, in my mind.

In twenty years, we will have a street named after a Hispanic that has no hispanic businesses on it.

Makes sense to me....

Ellum08, well said!

It reminds me of The Simpsons, when Bart was being a junior newscaster and brought his viewing audience to tears demanding that this nation recognize our veterans with a national holiday. Everyone booed when Lisa pointed out indignantly that there are already two such days.

How typical of Mr. Diaz and LULAC to overplay their hand. He implies that the name change on Ross Ave is already a done deal, but it isn't. I can't understand what connection Cesar Chavez has with Dallas. If Mr. Diaz and LULAC are obsessed with renaming our streets and buildings with hispanic names, why can't they choose notable local hispanic personalities? They would meet much less resistance from the local population. And before anyone calls me a racist, I should point out that I've never joined a racist organization (like LULAC, NAACP, KKK, etc)that promotes one race or ethnicity.

Why stop with just Ross. Rename Elm St. while you are at it. Nobody wants to remember that whole messy JFK thing..

Instead of renaming it Cesar Chavez...how about a compromise name like....oh...La ROSSa ???

Name a bridge after Cesar Chavez....then maybe the illegals will understand that when they cross that bridge that Cesar was against illegal immigrants. Then they can cross another bridge in Laredo and get legal. Put a big sign on each side of the bridge with a warning of the consequences of being an illegal immigrant.

Stop messing with Dallas's History I am hispanic and I don't care if any street is named after Chavez. Keep the historic names, or are you wanting to change Dealy Plaza to Pancho Villa park? Stop trying to erase history!

Gilbert, 6 months ago less than 100 people in Dallas could have given you the history of the Ross Brothers that are behind the Ross Avenue name. Most people would probably have guessed that Ross Avenue was named after one of the first Texas governors, "Sul" Ross. The Ross Brother history was lost for most people in Dallas. Their contributions were not in Texas history books. That is why a Historical Marker in their honor is needed, as recommended to be paid for by the Cesar Chavez Task Force. That will allow their history to be known by many times more people than knew it 6 months ago. Yes, we should respect history! I am a history teacher. Look at the photos of what is left of Little Mexico as seen this past November. See www.studentmotivation.org/CesarChavezAve
St. Anns was the center of Little Mexico. The Fountain Place Plaza is on land that used to be the southern edge of Little Mexico. The 500,000 who marched down Ross on 4-9-06 were probably not aware of that history. Why? It has been erased from the Dallas infrastructure and history. That must be corrected. Cesar Chavez is the leader of efforts to improve the working conditions of the poorest of workers, farmworkers. He led the way in organization efforts that helped all workers, including farm workers. In the Neuhoff slaughtering plant that used to be near what is now American Airlines Arena was the place many from Little Mexico worked. The secretary at our school told me today of how many of her aunts and uncles have fingers missing from working in that plant. Cesar Chavez worked to stop such working conditions! He last vistited Dallas in 1991, 2 years before his death. He tought us how to have peaceful, non-violent demonstrations such as the wonderful event that gathered on Ross Avenue on 4-9-06. A more appropriate action could not be done that to rename this street in his honor while at the same time bringing the memory of the Ross Brothers back to permanent public awareness on at least one, if not more, historical markers. This is our history.

Written history prior to 1960 rarely included the contributions of minorities. How many streets named prior to 1960 had minority names? Is there no need to change/correct this pattern?

The issue is about inclusion, diversity, and respect. The Ross brothers will be honored for their contributions to our beloved city with a historical marker and the preservation of the name of the avenue where they once resided.
However, the Dallas Latino community should be able to honor Cesar Chavez, a true leader who improved the lives of hardworking individuals throughout Texas.

BTW - For the unfortunate uninformed, Cesar Chavez was a U.S. born, WWII veteran. With a that said, I also wanted to inform some of you that according to Carole Keeton Strayhorn, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, “the undocumented immigrants produced $1.58 billion in state revenues for FY 2005, which exceeded the $1.16 billion in state services they received” (December 2006) A FIGURE THAT IS LIKELY TO RESEMBLE THEIR YEARLY CONTRIBUTIONS TO OUR STATE IN PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.

GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!