On January 19, 2021, the City Council voted to change the former Jackson Park name to Chochenyo Park. The decision comes nearly three years after the initial 2018 request and a months-long community process in 2020.
Four City Council members approved the name. Councilman Tony Daysog opposed.
Alameda’s first park was named after President Andrew Jackson in 1909. In 2018, we petitioned to Rename Jackson Park because Andrew Jackson’s “oppression of African and Native American peoples. Chochenyo is the language of the local tribe of the indigenous Ohlone peoples.
After the murder of George Floyd, Rename Jackson park reemerged and gathered over 1,000 additional signatures and pushed the Recreation and Parks Commission and City Council to dename the park. We also demanded an inclusive and transparent community-led effort “to rename the park to recognize the atrocities committed by President Andrew Jackson and bring justice and healing.”
This spring, Alameda Recreation and Parks Department will install a new sign at Chochenyo Park and the City and Schools are exploring ways to uplift indigenous histories.
http://renamejacksonpark.wordpress.com
Remove Andrew Jackson's name from Alameda's first park
Why is this important?
Make Alameda's public spaces inclusive.
Since 2015, a renewed effort to eliminate and remove monuments to white supremacists in public space has taken place throughout these United States and the world. In addition to memorials to the Confederacy, other symbols of colonialism, slavery, and genocide have been removed or come under increased scrutiny.
In January 2018, parents at Alameda's Haight Elementary School petitioned to rename their school after learning the school’s namesake, Henry H. Haight held bigoted, racist, and xenophobic views. Haight was considered a "strict Jacksonian Democrat" in the 1860s.
Alameda's first park, Jackson Park, should be renamed due to Andrew Jackson's oppression of African and Indigenous or Native American peoples. Specifically:
Jackson enslaved hundreds of African people in captivity at the Hermitage.
In addition to being a slaveowner, he earned the nickname “Indian Killer” for his participation in the murder of indigenous people.
As President, he advocated for the forced resettlement of indigenous people in the Southeast, commonly called the “Trail of Tears.”
So why does Alameda have a park named after Andrew Jackson?
Other communities have recently renaming spaces named after Jackson:
A Salt Lake City School Board recently renamed Jackson School.
Democrats in Virginia recently renamed their annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, and
prior to President Trump coming into power, abolitionist Harriet Tubman was set to replace Jackson on the $20.
Alameda should not memorialize President Andrew Jackson with a park.
We want Alameda to drop the name Andrew Jackson and adopt a name that reflects our island's values. "Rename Jackson Park. One suggestion: Justice Park." (2018)
Following a community-led process that include the names Justice, Mabel Tatum, Ohlone, and Chochenyo as the top names, the Recreation Commission and City Council voted for Chochenyo Park.
