Rafael Rodriguez

The Cesar Chavez Task Force will now probably attempt to the best possible extent express their collective reasoning as to why the renaming of Ross Avenue in honor of Cesar Chavez is good for the City of Dallas.

The trouble they face, however, will be in justifying their intention to literally wipe away from Dallas' map a historical footprint of a Dallas pioneer family that has been in existence for over a century in this city.

Respect? Cesar Chavez would not have allowed his memory to have been used in this manner.

The irony in this whole fiasco is that Cesar Chavez was trained by a man named FRED ROSS as a community organizer for the Community Service Organization (CSO).

Where is the divine wisdom displayed as Dallas' Hispanic community seeks respect?

If we continue to insist on changing the street name, we are essentially tampering with the memory and legacy of the Ross Family. I don't think these actions will gain "respect" for the Hispanic community. On the contrary, it will only serve to further divide our city along ethnic lines.

For this reason, I believe the memory and legacy of the Ross family should be left undisturbed.