Glazer also penned a joint resolution urging Congress to
rename federal properties associated with Confederacy.

STATE SENATE | DISTRICT 7 | Thanks to State Sen. Steve Glazer there may never be an elementary school in Oakland named after Confederate Lieutenant General Richard “Fighting Dick” Anderson.

A bill authored recently by Glazer, who represents much of Contra Costa County and the Tri Valley in Alameda County, would ban the naming of schools, government buildings, parks and roads with names associated with the Confederate States.

Senate Bill 539, co-authored by State Sen. Isadore Hall (D-South Bay), would also prohibit the sale and display of the Confederate flag by the state, excluding for educational and historical purposes. If approved by the Legislature, the bill would be effective January 2017. The legislation was referred to the Assembly Rules Committee for a hearing on July 13.

State Sen. Steve Glazer

“The Confederate States of America’s secessionist movement was rooted in the defense of slavery. Currently, certain ideological groups use the symbols of this movement to demean and offend whole segments of our society while sowing racial divisions,” the bill reads.

“The use of names of political leaders and senior military officers of the Confederate States of America to name California public schools, buildings, parks, roadways, and other state and local property is antithetical to California’s mission for racial equality.”

All local references to the Confederacy prior to 2017–for instance, schools and government buildings–would be required to be changed. Cost of new signage to jurisdiction could be subject to reimbursement from the state, according to the early draft of the bill.

The issue in California, which was a Union state during the Civil War, came to prominence two weeks ago after a push among residents in Long Beach to rename Robert E. Lee Elementary School following the murder of nine African Americans in Charleston, S.C. by a killer harboring racist views and an affinity for the Confederacy’s stars and bars flag.

In addition, Senate Joint Resolution 15, offered July 2 by Glazer, urges Congress to rename federal buildings and properties associated with the Confederate States.