Racism, News
Back to the Past in Shenandoah County, Virginia
The school board restores Confederate names to two public schools
I graduated from J.E.B. Stuart High School in Falls Church, Virginia, many years ago. I played for the Rebels' football team and never once thought of demanding that the school's name be changed. Stuart High was integrated, and, to my knowledge, little thought was given to the school's name being a vestige of the Jim Crow era.
Earlier this week, the Shenandoah County School Board voted 5–1 to change the names of two schools, restoring names dropped by the Board in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd. What is now Mountain View High School will again be known as Stonewall Jackson High, and Honey Run Elementary School will become Ashby Lee Elementary.
Stonewall Jackson High School received that name in 1959 when the school board responded to the Brown v. Board of Education decision to desegregate schools.
The name changes have made the national news and could encourage similar actions in other states. Perhaps coincidentally, the action follows Donald Trump voicing his opposition to “anti-white racism” in a social media post.
The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that approximately 200 public schools…
