A Virginia School Board Reinstated Confederate Names on Local Schools
Beyond shock and dismay, here are three lessons from this racist reversal.
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A school board in Virginia voted to reinstate Confederate names on two local public schools.
The Shenandoah County school board’s decision represents a reversal of a 2020 vote to remove the Confederate names in the wake of the racial justice uprisings rolling across the nation at the time.
The Associated Press reported…
In a reversal experts believe was the first of its kind, Shenandoah County’s school board voted 5-1 to rename Mountain View High School as Stonewall Jackson High School and Honey Run Elementary as Ashby Lee Elementary.
Friday’s vote reversed a decision by the school board in 2020 when school systems across Virginia and the South were removing Confederate names from schools and other public locations in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, which maintains a database of more than 2,000 Confederate memorials nationwide, is not aware of another case of a school system restoring a Confederate name that was removed, said senior research analyst Rivka Maizlish.
The two schools were fomerly named Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby Lee Elementary School. Jackson was a Confederate general, Turner Ashby was a calvary officer for the Confederacy, and Robert E. Lee was the army’s most famed commander.
The schools were renamed Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School.
The school board’s decision to put Confederate names back on an elementary and high school is, of course, revolting. But it goes deeper than that.
We can glean at least three lessons from the school board’s racist reversal.
1. Freedom is a constant struggle.
In 2016, feminist activist and academic, Angela Y. Davis published a book of essays and interviews called Freedom Is a Constant Struggle. In it she connects past movements for liberation to present-day efforts to show that hard won freedoms are never simply won, they must be perpetually protected.
In the wake of countless pledges to change and the awakening of many people to the ongoing realities of racism, we may have believed that going backward was not a realistic possibility.
The school board’s decision to re-inscribe the names of Confederate leaders on schools is proof that we can, and sometimes do, move in the opposite direction of racial progress.
As people who seek racial justice, we can never rest on yesterday’s victories. We have to sustain our every day labors to ensure liberation now and in the future.
2. Local work matters.
This name reversal was made possible because of a shakeup in the school board’s composition as a result of elections in 2023.
A current board member wrote in an opinion article that they now had “the first 100% conservative board since anyone can remember.”
Conservatives organized and put forth candidates who would represent their views, however racially backward they are, and they won.
The people who want to promote racial progress should look close to home first.
School board elections, city councils, county prosecutor elections—so much of what affects our daily lives together comes from actions at the local level. The good news is, we can get involved there, too.
Local work matters.
I’ve written a whole book offering a framework for how to get involved in the struggle for racial justice.
It’s called How to Fight Racism.
3. The kids lose the most.
According to CNN, “Shenandoah County Public Schools serves more than 5,600 students, and about 75% are White, 18% Hispanic and 3% Black, data from the state’s department education shows.”
In public statements at the meeting a Black student from one of the schools spoke up.
Aliyah Ogle, a Black eighth grader and athlete who plays three sports for Mountain View High School, spoke about the possibility of having to compete under Stonewall Jackson's name.
"I would have to represent a man that fought for my ancestors to be slaves," she said, adding that she would feel as if she's being disrespectful both to her ancestors and her family's values.
How much do students like Aliyah matter in the school board’s reasoning?
In any situation where justice is at stake, we must prioritize the well-being of those most vulnerable and most likely to be victimized. In this case, the descendants of people that the Confederacy fought to keep in slavery should be the priority.
It is not only the Black students, though, who suffer from this decision.
All students see these actions and take cues from them. For some students, it will encourage them to fight for a “Lost Cause” mythology that valorizes the Confederacy and whitewashes its racism.
For other students, it will be demoralizing and discouraging. For all students, it represents a step backwards in race relations for the entire school district and community.
This regressive decision by a school bard to rename its schools after Confederate leaders should remind us all that freedom is fragile and racial progress can be rolled back.
Have you gotten involved in your local school board, or are you interested in doing so? How did/would you dod it? Let us know in the comments?
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This is a disgusting decision. It is a reflection of a prominent version of christianity. They are insulting Black students and families by exalting the history of sin, oppression, and slavery in Virginia. This is sad, but consistent with systemic racism.
And this is happening in the wake of Frank Tyson's murder by police in Canton, Ohio. Seven times Tyson told the policeman, who had his knee on his neck, that he could not breathe. Then he went silent. Eric Garner. George Floyd. Frank Tyson. This is why Black people keep being killed by police--because in the south and in the north, where book bans continue to spread, our legislatures continue to dehumanize Black people and view their existence as only meant to serve whiteness. You're so right, Jemar, when you say, "In any situation where justice is at stake, we must prioritize the well-being of those most vulnerable and most likely to be victimized. In this case, the descendants of people that the Confederacy fought to keep in slavery should be the priority." And yet, here we are. :-( Thanks for continuing your courageous coverage of these discouraging trends.