Virginia NAACP sues school board for reinstating Confederate names

The Virginia NAACP sued a county school board Tuesday over its reinstatement of Confederate military names to two schools, accusing it of embracing segregationist values and subjecting Black students to a racially discriminatory educational environment.

The school board in Shenandoah County voted 5-1 last month to revert the name of Mountain View High School back to Stonewall Jackson High School, and that of Honey Run Elementary to Ashby Lee Elementary. The vote reversed a 2020 decision to remove the original names against a backdrop of nationwide protests over racial injustice.

The federal lawsuit states that Black students compose less than 3% of the school system's population. Plaintiffs include five students — identified by their initials and described as Black, white and biracial — and their parents.

The Associated Press sent an email seeking comment to school board chair Dennis C. Barlow.

The NAACP wrote that students will be “required against their will to endorse the violent defense of slavery pursued by the Confederacy and the symbolism that these images have in the modern White supremacist movement.”

For example, the lawsuit said an incoming freshman, who is Black, would be forced to play sports as a member of the Stonewall Jackson «Generals.» And she would have to wear a uniform “adorned with a name and logo that symbolizes hatred, White supremacy, and Massive Resistance to integration.”

If the student doesn't fully participate in school sports or other activities, she may miss out on future opportunities, including playing college sports, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg.

The NAACP alleges that the Confederate school names violate the students' First