The struggle over whether to rename schools that were named in the last century for Confederate politicians and soldiers has not roiled Georgia like it has Texas and Virginia.
More than 20 Georgia schools or school districts are named after Confederates, some with less than stellar records for reconciliation, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution review found. Two schools are located in metro Atlanta: Brown Middle in Atlanta, named after Georgia's wartime governor, and Jospeh Wheeler High School in Cobb, named after a cavalry general.
You can see the full list of where the schools and districts are here.
Neither the major school districts in metro Atlanta nor the Georgia Department of Education reported receiving complaints from the public about schools named after Confederates. Perhaps that is because the source of the names is lost in the past, a mystery to those who live and work in the shadows of these schoolhouses.
Many of the names were bestowed at the beginning of the 20th century, as Georgia and the South were still smarting after the Civil War and the federal controls of Reconstruction. Georgians began naming counties, military facilities, schools and school districts to honor the Confederate leaders. It was also a way, some say, to stick it to Yankees at a time segregationist sentiment was high in the South.
“That was a way to soothe the South’s pride for losing the war,” said Nash Boney, a retired University of Georgia history professor and Civil War historian.
Some Atlantans associated with local schools say there’s no need to try to obliterate the South’s history, but there does need to be thoughtful discussion about what and who we are trying to commemorate. Subscriber can read the full story at myajc.com
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