Two schools in rural Virginia that were stripped of the names of Confederate generals at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement have had their original titles restored.
The Shenandoah County school board voted on Friday to restore the names of Stonewall Jackson High and Ashby Lee Elementary, which have been known as Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School for the past four years.
The original names of the schools honor three Confederate leaders – Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Turner Ashby and Robert E Lee.
The schools had their names changed in 2020, in response to public anger in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020. Public buildings across the US have been renamed, while statues of southern generals have been removed, as protesters demanded that figures with historical links to slavery are not commemorated.
Over 60 schools have abolished Confederate names across the country since 2020 – with the two schools in Virginia being the first to restore them.
Would a Jewish student want his school named after a Nazi?
Your point being what? I guess it is that African American families could object to this reversion to the names of the schools before 2020? These school board meetings are usually open to the public and the public usually attends - particularly if the issue is controversial. There is nothing in the report about people raising objections and them not being listened to. And given that Tony Driver clearly abhors this decision he would have said so if that had happened.
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Absolutely absurd to tear down statues of Robert E. Lee, who was perhaps the greatest field commander in the history of USA / CSA, and was a reasonable, thoughtful man of the time, even if he believed in slavery.
Bear in mind that the revered Abe Lincoln openly stated that he didn't believe African-Americans could ever be accepted as equals to white Americans, and thought it best they make a new life in Africa (c.f. Liberia).
I can understand African-Americans who are descendants of slaves not wanting to be constantly reminded of the institution, but to seek to simply delete figures like Robert E. Lee from the historical and cultural record makes no sense.
Thomas Jefferson - author of the American Declaration of Independence - had 600 slaves, and fathered children by one of them. Impossible to erase history.
It’s a reasonable thing for a local school board to do. The vote was overwhelming (5-1) and it’s likely to be locally popular. If we believe in local democracy then we believe local people can make their choices. The defeated Confederates were welcomed back into the Union - particularly by Grant. No reason to erase their names from history.
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