In Virginia’s Shenandoah County in 2019, there was a school named Stonewall Jackson High School, which had been its name since its construction in 1959. It was opened as a segregated, whites‑only school during the 1959–1960 school year.
Its name changed to Mountain View High in 2020, along with several other school names in Virginia, after the George Floyd protests swept the nation. It wasn’t a good look to have schools named after traitors who fought to maintain slavery, but many residents weren’t happy about the change. There was a failed attempt to change the names back in 2022. Then, the school board had a wholesale changeout in 2024 with several new board members running on an anti-Critical Race Theory platform.
One new board member, Gloria Carlineo, wrote in an Op-Ed that the results gave Shenandoah County “the first 100% conservative board since anyone can remember.” At the six-hour meeting when the names were changed, Carlineo said opponents of the Confederate names should “stop bringing racism and prejudice into everything” because it “detracts from true cases of racism.” I’m curious as to what she views as the true cases of racism.
One might ask how and why a segregated school opened in 1959, five years after the passage of Brown v. Board of Education allegedly eliminated segregation in schools. I won’t inquire, as I’d be bringing race into the subject when it clearly isn’t warranted.
In 2024, the 100% conservative board voted to change Mountain View High back to Stonewall Jackson High, along with another school in the district that had previously been named after rebels. Honey Run Elementary reverted to its former name, Ashby Lee Elementary, named for Robert E. Lee and Turner Ashby.
The reversion was hotly debated, with each side presenting its views. Here are some of those comments opposing the name change:
“I acknowledge that the community has been left divided and unhappy over the initial name change. By taking this step backward in 2024, what foot are we putting forward? What legacy are you leaving behind for my generation to inherit?” — Pria Dua, student
“The fact that this discussion is receiving a disproportionately vast amount of attention from the county deeply disappoints me and leads me to wonder whether we are operating in the interests of our students or the preservation of our parents’ pride.” — Eden Shelhamer
“I would have to represent a man who fought for my ancestors to be slaves. “It is your job to make our schools a place where all students are valued and respected. If this board decides to restore the names, I would not feel like I was valued and respected, and you would not be doing your job.” — Aliyah Ogle, student-athlete
There were also comments advocating the name change:
“I would like to wear a name that I’m proud of. Not only do I want to have my FFA jacket say Stonewall as I enter high school, but I would also love to have my jerseys — which I wear all year round — say Stonewall.” — Carter Heishman, student-athlete
“When you vote on the name restorations, will you listen to the opinions of woke outsiders who have, for the most part, no ties to the land, the history, or the culture of this county? Or will you listen to the voices of the people who elected you to represent them, the people whose families built and have sustained this county for generations? We are the majority; that’s the way government works. This board has a moral and ethical obligation to the citizens you represent to undo the dirtiest, most underhanded political stunt in the history of Shenandoah County politics.” — Stuart Didawick
The Shenandoah County School Board was the first in the nation to restore Confederate names that had been removed. One wonders if this will inspire others to follow suit. They are proving something about themselves and their character, probably not what they think they are.
Federal judge orders Virginia county to replace Confederate school names it restored in 2024
It turns out it wasn’t over for Stonewall Jackson High and Ashby Lee Elementary. A federal judge sided with the NAACP in a lawsuit against Shenandoah County and ordered the names Stonewall Jackson and Ashby be removed and replaced by the school board “on a racially nondiscriminatory basis with all deliberate speed.”
He added:
“The Confederate names were restored with complete awareness of their historic legacy and ongoing discriminatory impact. In the court’s view, the affirmative act of reinstating these vestiges of segregation is far more problematic than a passive failure to remove a long-standing name or symbol. Unlike memorials named after Confederate figures, schools are places where children should have an educational environment free of vestiges of racial discrimination.”
I only wish the judge had given a timeframe for the change. The last time a court used “with all deliberate speed,” it took decades, additional court orders, and consent decrees for the change they sought to take place, and in some locations, arguably never did. I can’t wait to see the new names; we might get Stephen Miller High?