Virginia School Board Makes Unprecedented Return to Confederate School Names
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
Stonewall Jackson rides again.
On May 9, the Shenandoah County School Board, which had wiped away the names of Confederate generals from its schools in a 2020 vote, restored the names of Jackson and two other Virginia-based Confederate generals to its schools, according to WHSV-TV.
The vote means that what has been known as Mountain View High School will return to being Stonewall Jackson High School.
Honey Run Elementary School will revert to being called Ashby Lee Elementary School. The school combines the names of Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Turney Ashby, a cavalry commander who, like Jackson, was killed in the Civil War.
A report from Education Week indicated that prior to the vote there were about 60 schools named for Confederate leaders and that the May 9 vote was the first time former names had been restored.
NEW: A Virginia school district has decided to buck the trend of erasing American history and will restore the confederate names of two schools that were changed in 2021 in the wake of the 2020 George Floyd riots.
A refreshing, contrarian take. 👏
The Shenandoah County Public… pic.twitter.com/0P15lSGBXQ
— Dutch Burke (@DutchBurke) May 10, 2024
A petition presented to the board in April said the names “hold historical significance and have been integral parts of our community for many years.”
The petition said that over 90 percent of those surveyed wanted the former names restored.
“We understand that the decision to rename these schools was made in response to discussions surrounding Confederate symbols. However, we believe that revisiting this decision is essential to honor our community’s heritage and respect the wishes of the majority,” the petition said.
School board member Gloria Carlineo said the 2020 vote that scrapped the Confederate names was flawed, according to WHSV.
“This was not an innocent mistake by some inexperienced school board,” she said. “No, this was a carefully choreographed advance of a school board alluding to ignore the people they represented.”
5-1 vote to restore Confederate names to schools.
This is a win for America.
More of this, please.
Restore Confederate statues and monuments of American history. https://t.co/VfrqMF1rjR
— 1WesRS (@1WesRebel) May 10, 2024
The May 9 hearing on the change brought out impassioned arguments for and against the change.
“If you vote to restore the name ‘Stonewall Jackson’ in 2024, you will be resurrecting an act in 1959 that is forever rooted in mass resistance and Jim Crow segregation,” one resident said.
“I ask that when you cast your vote, you remember that Stonewall Jackson and others fighting on the side of the Confederacy in this area were intent on protecting the land, the buildings and the lives of those under attack. Preservation is the focus of those wishing to restore the names,” a woman whose name was not given said in supporting the change, according to CNN.
Dennis Barlow, the school board chair, said anti-Confederate bias is due to a misreading of history, according to WHSV.
“People in the Shenandoah Valley say that only the Confederates are the ones who did nasty things, or did nasty things to black people,” he said. “You just stopped reading your history, and you’re not being realistic. War’s hell.”
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