LTC 658-2019 CITY OF HALLANDALE RESOLUTION NO. 2019-127MIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK
No. 658-2019
LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Mayor Dan Gelber and Member~e ]ity Commission
Rafael E. Granado, City Clerk /J ~
December 19, 2019
CITY OF HALLANDALE RESOLUTION NO. 2019-127
Attached for your information is Resolution No. 2019-127, adopted by the Mayor and City
Commission of City of Hallandale on December 4, 2019.
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA, ENCOURAGING THE
BROWARD COUNTY COMMISSION TO CONSIDER THE RENAMING OF
"DIXIE HIGHWAY" TO NO LONGER UPHOLD THE STATE OF
FLORIDA'S SHAMEFUL AND RACIST HISTORY IN THE
CONFEDERACY, SLAVERY, AND WHITE SUPREMACY AND RATHER
PROMOTE A NEW ERA OF HEALING AND RACIAL EQUALITY;
PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
The City of Hallandale Clerk has requested that a copy of this Resolution be provided to the
Miami Beach Mayor, Commissioners and the City Manager.
If you have any questions, please contact the Office of the City Clerk at 305.673. 7 411.
REG/le
Attachment
F:\CLER\$ALL\LILIA\LTC's -Transmittal's\Hallandale Beach\Resolution 2019-127 City of Hallandale.docx
1 RESOLUTION NO. 2019-127
2 A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND THE CITY
3 COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH,
4 FLORIDA, ENCOURAGING THE BROWARD COUNTY
5 COMMISSION TO CONSIDER THE RENAMING OF "DIXIE
6 HIGHWAY" TO NO LONGER UPHOLD THE STATE OF
7 FLORIDA'S SHAMEFUL AND RACIST HISTORY IN THE
8 CONFEDARACY, SLAVERY, AND WHITE SUPREMACY AND
9 RATHER PROMOTE A NEW ERA OF HEALING AND RACIAL
10 EQUALITY; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
11
12 WHEREAS, "Dixie Highway" is a result of millionaire Carl G. Fisher's idea in 1914 to
13 encourage travel from the Midwest to Miami Beach long before President Dwight E. Eisenhower's
14 creation of the interstate highway system and completed in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-
15 Dade counties in 1915, and
16 WH ERAS, the term "Dixie" has a long racist history propping up the movements of the
17 confederacy, southern slave owners, the Ku Klux Klan, and white supremacy. The term "Dixie"
18 since its' introduction has served as a term of endearment for the "South" by the Confederacy and
19 its' supporters then and now. The song "Dixie" known as the unofficial anthem of the Confederacy
20 also boasts a line that is reminiscent of slavery stating, "I wish I was in the land of the cotton/ Old
21 times there are not forgotten." The writer of the original "Dixie" song, Daniel Decatur Emmet,
22 performed the song often in racist caricature of the minstrel blackface; and
23 WHEREAS, "Dixie Highway" is remembered by many who grew up in Hallandale Beach
24 when it was still named the City of Hallandale as the boundaries of Jim Crow laws and segregation
25 in South Florida; and
26 WHEREAS, in 2015 the City of Riviera Beach in their jurisdiction renamed "Dixie Highway"
27 to "President Barack Obama Highway" recognizing the painful history the name brought to
28 residents of the segregation between black and white neighborhoods. Riviera Beach Mayor
29 Thomas Masters at the time of the decision said, "It was an insult to have a street named Old
30 Dixie in the heart of an African-American community. Old Dixie represented hatred and racism,
31 evil and bigotry, segregation and the Ku Klux Klan."; and
32 WH EREAS, in 2017 the City of Hollywood was next in the national movement to take
33 down Confederate monuments and voted to replace the outdated and offensive street names of
34 "Forrest", "Lee", and "Hood" that were painful reminders of Confederacy generals and the founder
35 of the Ku Klux Klan to the new names of "Freedom", "Hope", and "Liberty" streets. In the City of
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36 Hollywood Commission's decision, they were supported by the local Greater Hollywood Chamber
37 of Commerce. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz FL-23 whose district includes most
38 of Hallandale Beach stated, ""At its heart the question before you today is a question of basic
39 human decency. No parent should have to explain to their child that the street they live on is
40 named after someone who fought for the right to keep people enslaved." State Rep. Joseph Geller
41 District 100 and State Rep. Shevrin Jones District 101 also expressed adamant support for the
42 street renaming and both also represent the City of Hallandale Beach in the Florida House of
43 Representatives; and
44 WHEREAS, in 2017 State Representative Shevrin Jones of District 101, representing west
45 portions of Hallandale Beach encouraged localities throughout Florida to rename their portions of
46 "Dixie Highway" stating that, "It does not represent who we are and what we stand for as a country
47 today. "Monuments went up after the Civil War to tell blacks, 'This will always remain the South."'
48 WHEREAS, in 2019 initiated by Commissioner Dennis Moss, members of the Miami Dade
49 County Board of County Commissioners began deliberating the renaming of the portion of "Dixie
50 Highway" that runs through Miami-Dade County; and
51 WHEREAS, the Mayor and City Commission of Hallandale Beach wish to encourage the
52 Broward County Board of County Commissioners to begin discussions on the renaming of the
53 portion of "Dixie Highway" that runs through Broward County as the outdated and painful reminder
54 of violent oppression and segregation that the name symbolizes.
55 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MA VOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF
56 THE CITY OF HALLANDALE BEACH, FLORIDA:
57 SECTION 1. Each of the above recitals are hereby incorporated herein.
58 SECTION 2. The Mayor and City Commission of Hallandale Beach believe in
59 restorative justice and encourage the Broward County Board of County Commissioners to
60 consider renaming the outdated and painful reminder of racist oppression that "Dixie
61 Highway" brings and promote healing and racial equality in Broward County as other
62 localities have pursued
63 SECTION 3. This Resolution shall become effective immediately upon its adoption.
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APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 4" day of December, 2019.
JO Y D ~
MAYOR
' 72 SPONSORED BY: VICE MAYOR SABRINA JAVELLANA
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74 ATTEST:
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JENORG'EI M. GUILLEN, CMC
CITY CLERK
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81 AP P RO VE D AS TO LEGAL SUF FI CI EN C Y AND FORM
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FINAL VOTE ON ADOPTION
Mayor Adams
Vice Mayor Javellana
Commissioner Butler
Commissioner Lazarow
Commissioner Lima-Taub
YES
YES
YES
ABSENT
YES
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90
91
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