The school board in Shenandoah County, Virginia, is set to vote on a proposal that would restore the names of Confederate military leaders to two public schools, reversing a decision made in 2020 to change the names of schools associated with Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Turner Ashby. The board stripped their names following the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing national racial reckoning. However, a conservative group called the Coalition for Better Schools has petitioned school officials to reinstate the names of Jackson, Lee, and Ashby, citing the importance of honoring the community’s heritage and respecting the wishes of the majority.
The proposal to restore the Confederate names is scheduled to be voted on by the school board on Thursday night. This follows a failed motion in 2022 due to a tie vote. The debate over Confederate iconography has been a contentious issue across the nation in recent years, with incidents such as the 2015 mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston and the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville sparking intense debates about public displays of Confederate symbols. In 2020, amid protests against racism, at least 160 public Confederate symbols were removed or relocated from public places, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The calls for racial justice and equity following George Floyd’s murder reignited discussions about the Confederacy’s legacy and the presence of Confederate symbolism in public spaces. In response, many communities took action to remove Confederate symbols and statues of Confederate generals. However, in Shenandoah County, the push to reinstate the names of Jackson, Lee, and Ashby to public schools reflects a different perspective on how to honor history and heritage. The Coalition for Better Schools believes that restoring the Confederate names is essential to honoring the community’s past and the majority’s wishes.
The decision to restore the Confederate names of the public schools in Shenandoah County represents a shift in the national conversation surrounding Confederate iconography. While some communities have chosen to remove such symbols in the wake of racial justice movements, others are pushing back against what they see as erasing their heritage. The debate over Confederate symbols has deep historical and cultural significance, and different communities may have varying opinions on how to address these symbols in a modern context. The upcoming vote by the Shenandoah County school board will be a key moment in determining how the community chooses to memorialize its past.
