Virginia school changes confederate name to Barack Obama
A change has come to a Richmond Virginia elementary school that will now amend its name from a Confederate general to the name of of the nation’s first Black President, Barack Obama.
The Richmond school board voted on Monday to rename the J.E.B. Stuart Elementary as Barack Obama Elementary School, reports CNN.
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James Ewell Brown Stuart was a Confederate States Army general during the Civil War. So the name change proved fitting for the school which was 95% African American.
Last year, a San Antonio high school voted to change the name of the school from Robert E. Lee High School to LEE High School. LEE stands for Legacy of Educational Excellence.
The school made the decision in an effort to distance itself from its ties to the Confederacy.
Also, a predominately black Mississippi elementary school last year announced that it would be changing its name from “Jefferson Davis” to “Barack Obama.”
The announcement was made during a Schools Board of Trustees meeting by Davis Magnet IB PTA President Janelle Jefferson.
“Jefferson Davis, although infamous in his own right, would probably not be too happy about a diverse school promoting the education of the very individuals he fought to keep enslaved being named after him,” she told the board.
She went on to say that the school should be named after former president Barack Obama “to reflect a person who fully represents ideals and public stances consistent with what we want our children to believe about themselves.”
“I wholeheartedly agree with the name,” said Board President Camille Simms.
As Obama’s legacy continue to inspire educators to adopt his name, the Former President is on a mission too. Obama is creating foot soldiers who will be the newest change agents and move this country forward.
Through his Obama Foundation, the former president has said that he is dedicated to the cause of creating “a million young Barack Obamas or Michelle Obamas” who will be on the front lines of the “relay race that is human progress.”
