Fort Worth’s proposal for White Settlement Road doesn’t go far enough | Opinion

Incremental progress is almost always preferable to none at all.

So, when the Fort Worth City Council votes Tuesday night on whether to rename about a mile of White Settlement Road, it should approve the change. But no one should think that will settle the issue. Miles of street in Fort Worth will still bear the name, and it would be better to remove it entirely.

The council has been here before, as recently as 2023. Renaming the entire road has always proved too big a political lift. The current proposal comes at the behest of a developer working on a mixed-use project called Westside Village, so calling the stretch between North Henderson Street and University Drive “Westside Drive” makes perfect sense.

The developer will pay the bulk of the cost, and disruption should be minimal. So, to many, it seems like a neat compromise. After all, Fort Worth is a business-friendly town.

It’s too bad, then, that there aren’t developments elsewhere on the road prompting a reevaluation of the outdated name. Business interests can often drive change on issues where political courage falls short.

The name is a relic, a name attached to a town other than Fort Worth itself. The history, for those who don’t recall or never knew, is that the name was applied early in Tarrant County’s history to distinguish between white settlers and nearby American Indian communities. It bears at least the suggestion of segregation and creates an unwelcome image in the minds of newcomers and others who may not even know there’s a separate city at the end of the road.

We’ve applied this simple test before: If the road were being named today, or any time in the last 40 years, would it be called “White Settlement”? Of course not.

Local businesses will bear some costs to change signs and create new paperwork. That’s regrettable. But street name changes are not uncommon and ultimately, many nearby businesses will benefit if the Westside Village development is successful.

Some think the fight to keep the name is an important front in the battle against “wokeness,” as if keeping the ancient name of a suburb on a Fort Worth street somehow enhances the argument against racial preferences or strikes a blow for equality over equity.

Language and mores evolve, and the street name paints an outdated picture of Fort Worth. Not every change has to be a symbolic battle site in a larger cultural war.

The town of White Settlement will remain, and voters there have made their feelings about retaining the name clear. That’s their choice.

It’s past time for Fort Worth to take a different path. We don’t expect the council will rename the entire road within the city limits Tuesday night. Renaming a stretch is an adequate start.

But no one should think that means the issue will go away.