In a press release on Wednesday, June 17, 2020, the process to rename Jefferson Davis Highway in Prince William County begins. Prince William County Supervisor Margaret Angela Franklin (D) has spearheaded this effort. The highway is named after former President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis.

Prince William County is following two years behind Alexandria and Fairfax and one year behind Arlington who have already undergone the name revision process. On June 23, 2018 Alexandria City voted unanimously 6-0 to rename Jefferson Davis Hwy to Richmond Highway. Efforts to rename Jefferson Davis Hwy stretch down to the state’s capital. Reported by NBC12 on June 7, 2020, the Richmond Virginia Branch NAACP and the Jefferson Davis Neighborhood Civic Associate held a press conference in support of renaming Jefferson Davis Highway in Richmond. This conference comes after recent social justice and Black Lives Matter protesters have graffiti-ed and torn down Confederate statues.

Prince William County Supervisor Andrea Bailey (D) passionately declared, “It is time as a county…that we move forward from the past!…This change will breed positivity for the future, and closure to a dark past.”

Supervisor Franklin stated, “As one of the first black women to be elected to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, I will stand up against these symbols of hatred.”

The decision to rename the Jefferson Davis Highway has been growing steadily over the past few years as residence voice their opposition to Confederate monuments and symbols of slavery. Supervisor Franklin hopes to continue removing landmarks and roads that celebrate racism, the Confederacy, and slavery.