Business & Finance

Hampton (Va.) board says it won't rename schools that have Confederate names

Board members say most people are opposed to renaming schools named for Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee.
June 23, 2016
2 min read

The Hampton (Va.) School Board has voted not to rename two schools with names linked to the Confederacy.

WAVY-TV reports that Jefferson Davis Middle School and The Campus at Lee, an alternative program housed in the former Lee Elementary, will keep their names.

Board members said that most of the feedback they received opposed renaming the schools.

“If the community had come out resoundingly for us to move forward and do that, we would have impaneled a committee to consider names,” School board chair Martha Mugler “That’s not what we heard from our citizens.”

Last month a local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference called the names Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee racially divisive and urged the district to find new names for the schools.

Hampton is one of many school systems that have been reconsidering in recent months whether schools with Confederate-linked names are appropriate.

After an avowed racist killed nine African-Americans last year in a Charleston, S.C. church. many people have questioned whether Confederate flags and other symbols that could be interpreted as pro-slavery or racist belong in public spaces and buildings.

Some Hampton residents opposed to renaming have said at earlier public hearings that the community needs to remember the past, even the uncomfortable parts. Others argued the division has more important things to focus on.

Video from WAVY-TV:

About the Author

Mike Kennedy

Senior Editor

Mike Kennedy, senior editor, has written for AS&U on a wide range of educational issues since 1999.

Sign up for American School & University Newsletters