The Virginia NAACP and a group of students are suing the Shenandoah County School Board after it voted last month to reinstate the names of two schools that were formerly named for Confederate generals.
The board voted 5–1 on May 10 to rename Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School as Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby Lee Elementary School, respectively. These were the schools’ original names, which the previous board changed in 2020.
The federal lawsuit filed Tuesday said that this decision creates an “unlawful and discriminatory educational environment for Black students,” according to a news release.
“When students walk through the halls of renamed Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby Lee Elementary School, they will do so with inescapable reminders of Confederate legacies that enslaved and discriminated against African-descended people. This community deserves better,” said the Rev. Cozy Bailey, Virginia NAACP President.
The complaint also said that the renaming violates students’ First Amendment rights, the federal Equal Education Opportunities Act, and the Equal Protection guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment.
“A Black high schooler who wants to play on the soccer team must wear the Stonewall Jackson ‘Generals’ uniform. The student must honor a Confederate leader who fought to keep Black people in chains as slaves,” said Marja Plater, senior counsel for the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. “Exposing children to this persistent racism and hate harms their self-worth and long-term health.”
This reversal may be the first of its kind, The Associated Press reports. During the Shenandoah County School Board meeting to approve the change, board members said they did not believe the decision took public sentiment into account.
Feature image, stock.adobe.com
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