Fairfax County School Board has recently changed its policy that disallowed schools from changing their name unless the vicinity was altered for a different purpose. The new addition to the policy states, “The School Board may also consider a change in the name of a school or facility where some other compelling need exists.” This ruling is beneficial to Fairfax County schools, such as Robert E. Lee High School and J.E.B. Stuart High School, who don’t believe Confederate leaders accurately depict the overall beliefs of their respective schools.
Both of these high schools are ethnically diverse and are misrepresented by these individuals who fought for the Confederate Army in attempt to protect the racist ideology of the South. This is why students at J.E.B. Stuart, such as seniors Anna Rowan, Marley Finley, Cassie Marcotty, Abby Conde and Lidia Amanuel, have revolted against the name of the school in effort to change it.
“Our history teacher posed the idea and we teamed up with a couple of girls in my grade to see what we could do to move forward with it,” Amanuel said. “We hope to change the name of our school to better reflect the positive learning environment and accepting atmosphere we enter every morning.”
Changing our school name will make it possible for Fairfax County to discontinue its tolerance of institutionalized racism and end the message of oppression and resulting desensitization to racism that the symbols currently representing my school carry.
AHS is a very diverse school as well, so students should be paying attention to what’s happening to these schools within our county. What if Annandale was named after Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin? Although he was not a famous military leader like Lee and Stuart, Whitney’s cotton gin is a symbol of the South’s dependence of slavery and roots of racism.
“Along with the name J.E.B. Stuart comes a history of inequality, racism and oppression. This history cannot be undone nor forgotten,” Amanuel said. “School names are more than words on a building; they are identifiers of the students and employees within them. In this case, the name of my school inaccurately represents who we are as individuals and as a community.”
Fairfax County was relatively slow in regards to desegregating schools, including AHS. So these two schools were named after Confederate leaders in order to show that their prejudice beliefs were still very relevant. But that was before many of the members at these schools were even born. Racist beliefs have now become a social taboo, and students of all religions and ethnicities have learned to live with each other.
That’s why students at these schools wish to rename themselves after leaders whose actions and motives don’t conflict with their own; students at Stuart hope to change their name to Thurgood Marshall High School because they feel as if the first African-American Supreme Court judge represents them better than a slaveholder.
“Some of those names came about because the schools like J.E.B. Stuart were founded during the Civil Rights Movement. So by naming them after Confederate leaders, they were sending a message about that movement and that they were not supporting it,” history teacher Joel Jepson said. “So I think it’s time that people at least have more say in the naming of the schools. Times have changed, why not?”
Students at AHS, including BCAA president, senior Hassa Koroma, are fans of the movement made by students at these schools because it discourages the views of the Confederate South.
“I think changing the names wouldn’t be a bad idea. Those confederate leaders represent a bad part of history pertaining to slaves and racial discrimination,” Koroma said. “Today that is slowly but currently being relived. We shouldn’t be influencing people by keeping the name of confederate leaders.”
J.E.B. Stuart alumni, Bruce Cohen and Julianne Moore, an Oscar-award winning director and actress, have initiated a campaign in order to promote the petition against their alma mater’s name. The petition has been very successful and hopefully it will eventually lead to a new name for these two high schools.
“School names are meant to be honorable, representing ideals to which students can aspire. I love my school and am excited to receive an incredible education,” Amanuel said. “However, my values are challenged as I am forced to celebrate the Confederacy to express my love for my school.”
In conclusion, changing the names of these schools would prove to be a step in the right direction, and a step further away from institutionalized racism.