In a surprising move, a Virginia school board voted to restore the names of Confederate military leaders to a high school and an elementary school that had been removed four years prior amid nationwide protests calling for racial justice. The Shenandoah County’s school board voted 5-1 to rename Mountain View High School as Stonewall Jackson High School and Honey Run Elementary as Ashby Lee Elementary. This decision was seen as the first of its kind reversal, with experts noting that no other school system has restored a Confederate name that was previously removed.
Despite the trend of removing Confederate names and memorials continuing, the school board decision to restore the Confederate names goes against the overall movement toward reckoning with racial injustice. The previous board had removed the names in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, but the new board members felt that the decision was not reflective of popular sentiment or proper due process. Additionally, current laws in Virginia allowed for the removal of Confederate names from schools, unlike other public locations which had restrictions until 2020.
While the board members in support of restoring the Confederate names believed it was important to uphold tradition and honor historical figures, the lone dissenting member believed that the majority of residents in his district preferred to leave the names unchanged. The decision sparked a debate among county residents, with some seeing the restoration of the Confederate names as a statement against minority students and faculty, while others viewed it as a way to preserve heritage and history. The names Stonewall Jackson and Ashby Lee were originally chosen in honor of Confederate figures from the Civil War era.
The decision to restore the Confederate names was met with mixed reactions from the community, with some residents feeling that it reflected the conservative values of the county while others expressed concerns about perpetuating racism and prejudice. The resolution approved by the school board stated that private donations would fund the name changes, highlighting the divide in opinion among residents. Shenandoah County, known for its conservatism, has historically supported Confederate symbols, but the recent decision marks a shift in the ongoing debate surrounding Confederate memorials in the region.
In Virginia and across the South, the removal of Confederate statues and memorials has been a contentious issue, with laws changing in 2020 to allow for the removal of such symbols. The statue of Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was removed from Capitol Square in Richmond, Virginia, following protests and acts of vandalism. While the trend has been towards removing Confederate names and symbols, the decision in Shenandoah County to restore the names of Stonewall Jackson and Ashby Lee highlights the ongoing debate over how to address historical figures associated with the Confederacy. Despite the controversy surrounding the decision, the school board’s vote to restore the names reflects the complexity of balancing heritage, tradition, and racial justice in the ongoing debate over Confederate memorials.
