American Bicycle Group is dropping the “Ocoee” name for one of its most popular bike lines to avoid any unknowing connotation by the brand of racial inequality because of the 1920 lynching of an African American in Ocoee, Florida.
The Chattanooga-based bike maker said Friday it is exploring a new name for its mountain bikes to replace Ocoee, which had been named after the nearby Ocoee River in Polk County where mountain biking is popular.
Peter Hurley, president and CEO of the American Bicycle Group, said he was made aware this week that the name “Ocoee” is also associated with the Election Day lynching of a Black man and the burning of an African American community in Ocoee, Florida in 1920. On Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new law requiring that Florida education include events like the election day riots, and other lynchings and acts of racial violence that are currently not part of regular African American curriculum.
“All of our brands are about providing equal access to everyone, in sports and in life,” Hurley said in a statement Friday. “In originally naming the bike “Ocoee,” our focus was on enjoying and exploring the outdoors and adventure. We had no understanding or knowledge of any other potential meaning or historical reference to the word. Now that we are aware of what Ocoee can also mean, it will be changed.”
The brand name change by the American Bicycle Group is among several re-branding or name changes being made this month by companies, bands and others in response to the ongoing protests for racial justice spurred by the police killing last month of George Floyd in Minneapolis.