Street in African-American neighbourhood honouring KKK member to be renamed

City commissioners in Florida have agreed to begin the process of changing the names of streets named after Confederate generals in the heart of an African-American neighbourhood.

During a contentious three-hour meeting Monday night, the Hollywood City Commission voted 5-2 to begin renaming Lee Street, named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee; Hood Street, named after Gen. John Bell Hood, and Forrest Street, named after Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan (KKK) leader Nathan Bedford Forrest.

The SunSentinel reports a final vote is expected Aug. 30.

The current plan calls for Forrest Street to become Savannah Street, Hood Street to become Macon and Lee will be renamed Louisville.

The meeting followed a protest in June that led to the arrests of five people.

Forrest joined the KKK around 1867, and some contemporary reports suggest he may have served as the Grand Wizard of the racist institution at one point. He was also the man in charge of Confederate forces during the Battle of Fort Pillow, which saw hundreds of black Union soldiers massacred in what has been described as a war crime.