Fla. school named for Ku Klux Klan leader to be renamed
NBC NEWS - The Nathan Bedford Forrest High School in Jacksonville, Fla., where more than half the students are black, will change its name from that of the man who allegedly was the Ku Klux Klan's first grand wizard from the start of the next school year in August...
A Florida high school that for 54 years has borne the name of a leader of the Ku Klux Klan is to be renamed, officials said.
The Nathan Bedford Forrest High School in Jacksonville, Fla., where more than half the students are black, will change its name from that of the man who allegedly was the Ku Klux Klan’s first grand wizard from the start of the next school year in August.
A new name will be proposed in January.
“We recognize that we cannot and are not seeking to erase history,” said Constance Hall, a board member for the Duval County school, which was founded 54 years ago.
“For too long and too many, this name has represented the opposite of unity, respect, and equality,” Hall said in a statement.
Forrest was an innovative calvary leader and a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He later joined the Ku Klux Klan after its founding after war; there remains a dispute over his role.
With its roots in the Civil War era, the Ku Klux Klan has long been associated with hooded, white-robed night riders who menaced blacks with cross burnings, lynchings and other acts of violence.
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