School District Returns to Confederate Names Changed After George Floyd Murder; McQuinn Community Event; Sewell Wins Straw Poll
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Virginia School District Goes Back to Confederate Names Changed After George Floyd Murder
Fifteen days before the fourth anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, the Shenandoah County School Board in Virginia voted 5-1 to restore the names of Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby Lee Elementary School. The one board member voting against bringing back the Confederate names was the Board’s Vice Chair Kyle Gutshall.
Four years ago in the wake of a short-lived “racial reckoning after the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 by a Minneapolis, Minnesota police officer, many schools rethought naming public buildings after military leaders who fought to keep slavery in place in the U.S.
The news of the name change also arrives days before the 70th anniversary of the May 17, 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education mandating that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional.
Ashby Lee Elementary is in part named after Turner Ashby, a Confederate cavalry officer killed in Virginia and in part named after confederate General Robert E. Lee.
“Shenandoah Co. is the 1st locality in the US to revert schools back to their Confederate names. By honoring the Lost Cause, this decision marks a stain on our Commonwealth that even Robert E. Lee would oppose. We must irrevocably ban vestiges of slavery,” said Delegate Sam Rasoul who represents Roanoke.
“There’s loving the past, then there’s loving backward when you hate the future,” wrote former NAACP President Cornell Brooks.
“Renaming schools is often a crucial step towards fostering inclusivity and reflecting evolving societal values.
“It is profoundly alarming and utterly unacceptable that the Shenandoah County School Board has now chosen to reinstate Confederate names after previously voting for their removal. This decision is particularly abhorrent given the current social climate, marked by ongoing racial injustices exemplified by the murder of George Floyd four years ago, with the upcoming fourth commemoration of his death on May 25th. Such actions only perpetuate racism and bigotry, both in Virginia and across the nation. Is this a resurgence of Jim Crow-era policies in the 21st century?,” wrote Hampton NAACP President Gaylene Kanoyton in part in a statement on May 10.
Hampton, Virginia features one of the most important locations in Virginia’s history. In 1619 at Ft. Monroe the first Africans arrived, after being kidnapped from Angola In August 1619 and transported on the Portuguese ship called the São João Bautista.
“Restoring confederate names to public schools after they had already been removed a few years ago takes real gumption. Coming up with a non-racial reason for doing it requires even more,” wrote Derek Black, a law professor at the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law.
“This is a huge step backwards. The Confederacy and what it stood for can no longer be honored. If the U.S. military can drop that ugly legacy, so too can the Shenandoah County School Board,” wrote Mark Pitcavage, a Senior Research Fellow at the ADL Center on Extremism in Ohio.
The Board had different members four years ago. The names of the schools were changed to Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School. The name change away from confederate leaders who fought the north during the Civil War to keep slavery in place is making national news.
On April 22, the Virginia NAACP released a statement saying, “military leaders of the Confederate States of America took up arms against the United States of America and fought to preserve and expand the peculiar institution of slavery. These hateful, white supremacist ideals should not be memorialized anywhere the public – which includes descendants of enslaved African s– is required to support financially,” the Virginia NAACP stated in an April 22 press release.
Several moments since the “racial reckoning” of 2020 after the murder of George Floyd shocked people around the world have indicated a backlash.
They include moves against teaching Black history, the anti-woke movement, the push against diversity and bans on certain books in public schools that deal with issues of race and inequality.
Del. Briana Sewell Wins Culpeper Straw Poll
Democratic candidate for CD07 was the decisive winner of the Culpeper Dems straw poll, leading every round of the ranked-choice ballot and consolidating support in the final round to win overall.
“We are running a grassroots campaign that is rooted in this district and we are working hard to earn support from voters who want someone fighting for them and their families - that’s what I’ve done my whole life and why I am running to represent CD-7 in Congress,” Del. Sewell said in a statement. Early voting has started and primary day is on June 18.
Del. McQuinn’s Annual Community Event
RICHMOND, VA — On May 4, Del. Delores McQuinn held her annual Community Research Day at New Bridge Baptist Church in Richmond. In attendance were representatives from the Richmond NAACP, VCU’s Massey Cancer Center, the Virginia Employment Commission and many others.
Photos: State of Portsmouth Address
PORTSMOUTH, VA — Below are a few photos from the annual Portsmouth State of the City address on May 3. The even took place at Rivers Casino.
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