Lafayette City Council will rename the Mary Miller Theater and add educational context to other Mary Miller commemorative art in the city.

Council voted 5-2 on Tuesday night to rename the Mary Miller Theater. Mayor J.D. Mangat and Councilmember Brain Wong voted against the proposal.

Meanwhile, Council voted 5-2 against changing the Mary Miller Sculpture or the name of North Miller Avenue or South Miller Avenue. It also voted to leave the Mary Miller Mural in place, but to add historical and educational context on Miller. With all three votes, councilmembers Tonya Briggs and Tim Barnes voted against the majority.

Lafayette Public Library Director Melissa Hisel said that there was a resident-driven petition in 2020 to rename “The Miller” apartment complex as the Miller name is closely associated with the Ku Klux Klan’s history in Lafayette. Hisel said that the petition was the momentum the city needed to seriously discuss all the Miller-named city property.

Mangat said he believes that the Mary Miller name should stay. He said that removing her name will not uplift marginalized communities. He said that the city should not remove its history, but instead educate the community about Lafayette’s history and how marginalized communities were treated.

Mangat said that Miller was not in the KKK, but her descendants were and “that sucks” as the Miller name has become closely associated with racial discrimination. He said that the the city should direct its effort towards helping communities of color and making efforts to combat discrimination in the city.

Wong said that his family has experienced a lot of discrimination as Asian Americans, but people need to remember history in order to grow. He said that adding context to the Miller name will help the city move forward.

“If we erase, we will forget. And once we forget, history will repeat itself,” Wong said.

Barnes said that the council represents the challenges that people face. He said that Lafayette has a long history of discrimination. He said that he believes that the Miller name should be removed from the city, as it adds to the trauma for communities of colors.

Hisel said that the cost to rename North Miller Avenue and South Miller Avenue would be low, but would significantly impact the residents who live on those streets.

A street name change would mean residents would have to change anything that includes their mailing address, such as their license, bills, homeowner’s insurance and delivery platforms.

It could also involve mortgage holders and title companies.

Elizabeth Lichtenstein, chair of the Lafayette Human Rights Commission, said that while she can not recommend anything to the council as chair of the commission she wanted to speak as an individual.

Lichtenstein said that the problem with the Miller commemorative naming in town is not Miller’s personal racist actions, but that Miller’s name is “intertwined with upholding systems of white supremacy.”

“I think we need to make our response actually dismantle oppression and bridge divides, and should not be a cosmetic feel-good facelift,” Lichtenstein said.

The Advisory Board of the Lafayette Public Library, Lafayette Cultural Arts Commission and the Public Art Committee had meetings about the potential Miller renaming.

The LCAC recommended that the city could add an educational plaque to the Miller sculpture, prioritize community education about the history of Lafayette containing the narratives of marginalized communities.

The PAC recommended that council should receive legal advice about artist’s intellectual property rights laws before modifying or removing the sculpture or mural. The PAC also states that they believe there is currently not enough information about Miller and her involvement with institutional racism to reach consensus about potential modification or removal of the Mary Miller Mural.