- Title: Virginia school board votes to restore Confederate names to two schools
- Date: 10th May 2024
- Summary: WOODSTOCK, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES (MAY 10, 2024) (REUTERS) SHENANDOAH COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS SITTING AND PUTTING FORWARD MOTION RESTORE PREVIOUSLY REMOVED CONFEDERATE NAMES TO TWO SCHOOLS BOARD MEMBERS VOTING 5-1 IN FAVOR OF CHANGING NAMES OF SCHOOLS WOODSTOCK, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES (MAY 9, 2024) (REUTERS) UBLIC GATHERED FOR THE MEETING OF THE SHENANDOAH COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD CROWD AND SCHOOL BOARD SAYING THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) GENE KILBY, SON OF ACTIVIST WHO WORKED IN FAVOR OF DESEGREGATION OF VIRGINIA SCHOOLS (AGAINST RESTORING PREVIOUSLY REMOVED CONFEDERATE NAMES TO TWO SCHOOLS), SAYING: "The Civil War was fought and lost by the Confederacy. Do you want to continue to memorialize individuals that led an insurrection against the United States? We don't need to go backwards. We just ask you tonight to do the right thing." AUDIENCE APPLAUDS AS KILBY LEAVES THE PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) SHENANDOAH COUNTY RESIDENT, BOB SMITH (AGAINST RESTORING PREVIOUSLY REMOVED CONFEDERATE NAMES TO TWO SCHOOLS), SAYING: "I haven't heard anybody here say 'We need to change the name of the school to Abraham Lincoln School.' How many here would like to see it be Abraham Lincoln School? Oh, but you see? We can't do that. That deals with the North. We have to keep our history here. Our history's more important? Our future's more important. Not our history." EIGHTH GRADE STUDENT, ALEA OGLE, APPROACHING THE PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) EIGHTH GRADE STUDENT, ALEA OGLE (AGAINST RESTORING PREVIOUSLY REMOVED CONFEDERATE NAMES TO TWO SCHOOLS), SAYING: "I'm a Black student, and if the names are restored, I would have to represent a man who fought for my ancestors to be slaves. That makes me feel I am disrespecting my ancestors, and going against what my family and I believe, which is that we should all be treated equally, and that slavery was cruel and an awful thing. I think it is unfair to me that restoring the names is up for discussion. People don't take the time to think about students like me who would not be proud to graduate from a school with the name Stonewall Jackson." PUBLIC (SOUNDBITE) (English) STUART DIDAWICK, SHENANDOAH COUNTY RESIDENT WHOSE ANCESTORS SETTLED IN SHENANDOAH COUNTY 271 YEARS AGO (IN FAVOR OF RESTORING PREVIOUSLY REMOVED CONFEDERATE NAMES TO TWO SCHOOLS), SAYING: "This Board has a moral and ethical obligation to the citizens you represent to undo the dirtiest, most underhanded political stunt in the history of Shenandoah County politics. We've made this easy for you. There should be nothing other than a 6-0 vote to restore the names. Unless of course my opponents find some school board votes in Georgia at 3 am." SOME MEMBERS OF THE CROWD STAND TO APPLAUD AS DIDAWICK LEAVES THE PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) STEVE HIKESMEN, FORMER STUDENT AND RESIDENT OF DISTRICT 2 COLLINSVILLE COUNTY (IN FAVOR OF RESTORING PREVIOUSLY REMOVED CONFEDERATE NAMES TO TWO SCHOOLS), SAYING: "Tearing down statues and monuments and erasing history while indoctrinating children is exactly what Adolf Hitler did in the late 1930s in Germany. We learn from history to become a better people. In America, we live in a constitutional republic that is government of, by and for the people. You have listened to a couple dozen people this evening and remember the several thousand that you have heard. Thank you." AUDIENCE APPLAUDS AS HIKESMEN LEAVES THE PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRIA DUA, SENIOR STUDENT AT Mountain View High School (AGAINST RESTORING PREVIOUSLY REMOVED CONFEDERATE NAMES TO TWO SCHOOLS), SAYING: (SOUNDBITE CONTINUES OVER SHOT OF BOARD MEMBERS AND AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) “Reverting back to this name is a symbolic regression, disregarding truth of our past. I acknowledge that the community has been left divided and unhappy over the initial name change, but how can we see a brighter future when we're afraid of the changes that confront our past by taking this step backward in 2024, What foot are we putting forward? What legacy are you leaving behind for my generation to inherit? Thank you.” (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARY KATE MANNING, CURRENT STUDENT AT MOUNTAIN VIEW HIGH SCHOOL (AGAINST RESTORING PREVIOUSLY REMOVED CONFEDERATE NAMES TO TWO SCHOOLS), SAYING: “Keeping the name Mountain View High School does not have any negative impact on current or future students. However, changing the name back to Stonewall Jackson High School has potential to negatively impact current or future students. Aligning with the mission and beliefs of Shenandoah County public schools, important decisions like this one must consider the voices of the students. The students would be most affected by this change. As a current student, it is hard to imagine a scenario where reverting the name back to Stonewall Jackson would improve the education received by any student attending the school.” MANNING WALKING BACK TO HER SEAT (SOUNDBITE) (English) STEPHANY BULLETSMITH, 1980 GRADUATE OF STONEWALL JACKSON (AGAINST RESTORING PREVIOUSLY REMOVED CONFEDERATE NAMES TO TWO SCHOOLS), SAYING: “When my brother was in high school, Stonewall Jackson football team member, he was hit in the face and called a nigger by a school board member today, Tom Street, and people need to know that because someone like that should not be serving in public office. I don't care where it is. They should not be serving in public office.” AUDIENCE LISTENING TO DISCUSSION WOODSTOCK, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES (MAY 10, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) KYLE L. GUTSHALL, SHENANDOAH COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD VICE CHAIRMAN, SAYING: “It's a difficult decision, like I said. I've thought about it for a long time. There's been a lot of input and I understand both sides to this. But ultimately I believe the people of District four where we're sitting in right now, those that felt that they wanted to reach out to me, they expressed their thoughts and feelings and I don't feel like I would be doing my job properly if I sat here and ignored them, even if I didn't necessarily agree with what they were expressing to me.” (SOUNDBITE) (English) DENNIS C. BARLOW, SHENANDOAH COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD CHAIRMAN, SAYING: “Racial strife is everywhere. Cultural strife is everywhere. Americans are better than that. We really are. And we have to celebrate that and not divide ourselves along these lines and calling each other names without knowing who we are.” AUDIENCE STEPPING OUT AFTER END OF BOARD MEETING
- Embargoed: 24th May 2024 06:32
- Keywords: Black Lives Matter Confederate George Floyd Shenandoah County Stonewall Jackson Virginia pro-slavery racism
- Location: WOODSTOCK, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES
- City: WOODSTOCK, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: North America,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001145109052024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:A U.S. school board in Shenandoah County, Virginia, voted on early Friday (May 10) in favor of on restoring previously removed Confederate names to two schools, becoming the first community in the nation to reinstate such names.
The motion undid the school board's decision in 2020 stripping a high school and elementary school of the names of three military leaders of the pro-slavery Southern states in the U.S. Civil War: Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Turner Ashby.
The decision of reverting to those names bucks a four-year trend of U.S. institutions removing symbols of the Confederacy following nationwide racial justice protests triggered by the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers.
Among the more than 60 U.S. schools formerly named after Confederate figures that have changed their name since 2020, none have reinstated the Confederate names so far, according to trade publication Education Week, which tracks such schools.
A local conservative coalition asked the Shenandoah County school board in April to reinstate the names to Stonewall Jackson High from Mountain View High School and Ashby-Lee Elementary from Honey Run Elementary, writing that doing so was "essential to honor our community's heritage."
On Thursday (May 9) evening, the Shenandoah school board listened to arguments both in favor and against the change, called by parents, former students and current students.
The coalition called Coalition for Better Schools submitted a written request to the board in which it cited surveys that it mailed to residents of the districts from which the schools' students are drawn, saying that out of 1,160 responses to 8,507 surveys sent, more than 90% favored switching back to the Confederate names.
School board members across the United States have faced a rash of threats and hostile messages ignited by roiling controversies over subjects such as U.S. racial history, a 2022 Reuters investigation found.
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