San Anselmo Votes Down Proposed Drake Blvd. Name Change: Report

SAN ANSELMO, CA — San Anselmo’s Town Council on Tuesday voted down a proposal to the name of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, The Marin Independent Journal reports.

The council in a 3-2 vote joined the municipalities of Larkspur, Ross and Marin County in rejecting a proposal to rename the roadway named after the 16th Century explorer with ties to slave trading among other atrocities.

The push to rename Sir Francis Drake Boulevard emerged from the racial justice reckoning amid the Black Lives Matter movement that swelled in the aftermath of George Floyd's killing in police custody last summer.

Drake launched his maritime career in the slave trade in the 1560's and played a key role in England's slave trafficking industry according to History.com.

English scholar Claire Jowitt alleges Drake was also a murderer, HistoryExtra reports.

The town of Fairfax on March 3 became the county’s only municipality to back the renaming proposal.

The Marin County Board of Supervisors in a 4-1 vote Tuesday backed a proposal to an additional name to the roadway that cuts across central Marin from the San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean, cast the lone dissenting vote Tuesday.

Read more in The Marin Independent Journal