COURTLAND
Southampton County resident John Ricks, a retired Marine, said at July’s board of supervisors meeting that he understands what the Confederate monument sitting on county property represents.

“I don’t have a problem with monuments,” Ricks said, noting that he served 21 years for his county, and appreciates that the monuments honor veterans like himself. “Being in the Marine Corps, I had the chance to travel the world and experience many different cultures … I’m a student of history, but there’s a point and place for everything.”

Instead of requesting that something protected by state statute be removed, this African-American man said that he has an issue with something the county is very much in control of.

“I draw my line with the naming of roads,” he said. “I don’t know who covers the naming of roads, but a month ago I was reading The Washington Post, and it knocked my socks off, gentlemen. I was embarrassed because a paper way out of the state writes an article explaining how Blackhead Signpost Road got its name. I had heard this growing up, but I didn’t want to believe it.”

In that article, it is explained that the road was unofficially named for the place where the head of a slave that was executed during the Nat Turner Rebellion was placed on a post alongside the road as a warning to others. An excerpt from The Lynchburg Virginian notes that Gen. William H. Brodnax, who commanded the militiamen from Brunswick and Greensville counties, had slain more than 90 slaves and taken the leader — believed to be Turner himself — cut off his head and limbs and hung them in different sections to inspire terror among slaves.

The name became formal when the county adopted road names in 1990.

“I’m asking that Blackhead Signpost Road [be changed] … This is 2015, this is not 1860,” he said. “It is an insult. I have a son, granddaughter and grandson. I explained to them what I was coming to do today, and I told them I was going to do it because I believe this is the right thing to do.

“Now everyone has their beliefs, and I didn’t come here to create turmoil, misunderstanding or confusion. I came here to bring clarity and to bring us together as a people,” Ricks continued. “It’s not just a view of mine, but so many others in Southampton County because the flag that I stood for in the Marine Corps for 21 years says that those roads shouldn’t be there. We don’t need that. We really don’t.”

In order for the name to be changed, Ricks would have to comply with the process for consideration of street name changes specifically prescribed in Section 14-125 of the Southampton County Code. In order for it to be reviewed by the board, Ricks would be required to pay a $500 filing fee and a petition with the signatures of a majority of the landowners along the street in question.

With a process similar to rezoning matters, the revised petition and review fee will be submitted to the county’s subdivision agent, Beth Lewis, who then forwards the request to the county planning commission for public hearing and review. Following a recommendation from the planning commission, the board of supervisors will advertise and conduct a second public hearing before taking action on the request.

County administrator Mike Johnson told The Tidewater News earlier this year that no street name changes have been approved by the board of supervisors since the names of 136 roadways were adopted in July 1990.

“The adopted road names are considered an integral component of the county’s emergency response system, and name changes can be potentially confusing to emergency responders,” Johnson said in a letter to a county resident requesting a name change for Carrington Drive. “With dozens of named private roads scattered across Southampton County, the board has previously chosen not to establish a precedent of changing road names.”

Section 15.2-2019 of the Code of Virginia authorizes localities to name streets, roads and alleys with names that take precedence over any other designation, though, meaning that the board could ultimately oversee the need for the aforementioned process and arbitrarily, pending a majority vote, change the name of Blackhead Signpost Road.

“Now, I’m not naive to think that something’s going to change just because we talked. When I walk out this door, I don’t even know if anything’s going to change,” Ricks said. “I came here to plant a seed, though. I’ll come back. That’s what the Marine Corps taught me. I know you were elected by the people of this county to do the right thing.”