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[L Verge]

(06-19-2018 12:00 PM)Rsmyth Wrote:  "J.E.B. Stuart Elementary School, named after a Confederate general, will become Barack Obama Elementary School. The decision means that Richmond, the former capital of the Confederate States of America, will soon have a school honoring America’s first black president."
Common sense and decency prevail.

If you say so... My home county named a brand new school in "honor" of Barack Obama back in 2010. We have had a high school named after Fredrick Douglass (who did much more to aid in the Negro's plight) since the late-1800s or early-1900s.

We also have over 200 elementary, middle, and high schools plus vocational schools, charter schools, and academies; and many are named after black leaders, and one is named for Cesar Chavez. I have no problem with honoring those who truly served society.

We have gone through name changes - Roger B. Taney Middle became Thurgood Marshall many moons ago, and Francis Scott Key Middle was changed to Drew-Freeman to honor the great black physician Charles Drew and a leading black educator in our county.

The one that was really a shocker to the black and white citizens occurred around 2004. We had Lord Baltimore Middle School, whose name honored the founders of Maryland, and it was soon changed when a black member of our County Council was killed in an automobile accident. What shocked folks is that he was under investigation for a variety of felonies - and, when killed, he was joy riding with his mistress, not his wife and family. Please find the logic in that.

Let's hope that changing the names of institutions, streets, etc. really serves to educate future generations to who these folks are/were and, more importantly, how they changed our lives for the better.

One last thought from my bully pulpit. In our society and our churches, we are asked to forgive others, to help them rehabilitate themselves, shelter and feed them, etc. That is the lesson that walks out the doors of our churches with us every Sunday. And yet, many of our pious friends (on every side) still want to cling to the evil Southerners syndrome over 150 years later. If their thoughts and hopes were/are in the right place, shouldn't they have forgiven our ancestors, solved the situations, and moved on to more current problems? May I suggest that one practices what one preaches?

P.S. Now that we have shown both sides of the Nathan Bedford Forrest persona, are we taking on J.E.B. Stuart? http://www.historynet.com/jeb-stuart-imm...valier.htm