SHENANDOAH COUNTY, Va. — The NAACP Virginia State Conference and five Shenandoah County students are suing the Shenandoah County School Board, alleging they are creating an unlawful and discriminatory environment for Black students.
On May 9, the School Board approved restoring the Confederate names back to multiple schools in the area. The lawsuit outlines the legacy of segregation and discrimination those Confederate names carry.
The School Board approved renaming Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School to prior names, Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby Lee Elementary School. Confederate leaders who fought to preserve slavery and segregation.
“My belief is the Shenandoah County School Board reaffirmed their commitment to white supremacy and the celebration of a race-based rebellion against the United States of America with their vote to name public schools after military leaders of the Confederate States of America,” said Rev. Cozy Bailey, Virginia NAACP President.
According to the complaint filed by the NAACP, forcing Black students to attend a school honoring Confederate leaders creates a school environment that denies them equal opportunity for an education and violates their right to Equal Protection under the Fourteenth Amendment and First Amendment right to free speech.
“A Black high schooler who wants to play on the soccer team must wear the Stonewall Jackson ‘Generals’ uniform. The student must honor a Confederate leader who fought to keep Black people in chains as slaves. Exposing children to this persistent racism and hate harms their self-worth and long-term health,” said Marja Plater, Senior Counsel, Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.
In 1959 – five years after the US Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, Shenandoah County constructed the Stonewall Jackson High School as an all-white school. The Confederate names signaled to Black students and their families that they were not welcome at the schools, and it took another several years for the first Black students to enroll in high school during the 1963-64 school year.
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