Petition Seeks to Rename Va. Schools Honoring Robert E. Lee, J.E.B. Stuart

ashley.rae | July 10, 2015
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There is a petition to rename a school named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in his home state of Virginia.

The petition, written by Lisa McQuail and personally addressed to Sandy Evans of the Fairfax County school board, calls on Evans to “rename Confederate and segregation themed public schools” within the district.

The petition takes aim at schools named after Lee, Confederate Maj. Gen. J.E.B Stuart and alleged segregationist W.T. Woodson.

According to McQuail, Robert E. Lee High School, J.E.B. Stuart High School and W.T. Woodson High School were named in the 1950s and 1960s to intentionally “fuel racial tension.”

 “After the Charleston massacre we cannot abide by this school name that was given in 1959 by neo-Confederates in hateful defiance of desegregation during Virginia's shameful massive resistance movement,” McQuail writes.

The school names, McQuail argues, “can only serve to fuel legitimacy among 21st century White Supremacists.”

In its initial four days, the petition has accumulated approximately 600 signatures.

The Virginia petition is part of a larger movement across the country to rename schools named after Lee and other Confederate figures. There are other petitions circulating in California, Florida and Texas.

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