The Dallas Independent School District has a list of 20 schools that may be renamed because of their namesakes’ ties to slavery or the Confederacy, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Among the usual villains are Robert E.Lee and Stonewall Jackson. But included on the list are Benjamin Franklin Middle School and schools named for Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
The DISD administration has already recommended renaming four schools named after Confederate generals, including Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. The district is conducting additional research on whether to rename at least 20 other schools named after historical figures. The list of schools, posted by DISD board member Dustin Marshall on Facebook Saturday night, includes schools named after Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
https://www.facebook.com/DustinMarshallForDISD/posts/834314796742765
Needless to say, there would be no nation known as the United States of America without Jefferson, Madison, or Franklin. Maybe the politically correct name changers want to rename the U.S. — perhaps call it the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. I have it on good authority that that name is not in use at the moment.
The bureaucrat looking into renaming the schools won’t support renaming a school named in honor of Benjamin Franklin.
“I will not support a name change for Franklin since Benjamin Franklin clearly had many accomplishments that form the basis for why the school was named after him. I don’t believe this school was named after Franklin to send a signal of oppression and control,” Marshall wrote. (Benjamin Franklin Middle School is the only school on the list that falls within Marshall’s district.)
Well, good for him. Among Franklin’s accomplishments was founding the very first abolitionist society in America. But he’s white, and hung around with slave holders, so out he goes.
Eventually, we won’t have schools named after any American born before 1960. But I’m sure there are plenty of other names we can use for schools. A few suggestions:
Fidel Castro Prep
Lenin Middle School
Hugo Chavez Charter School
Che Guevara Pre School
Naming schools after butchers is much better than honoring slaveholders and Confederate generals, don’t you think?
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