After nine months of discussion, The Montgomery County Board of Education voted 5-2 in favor of Brown’s recommendation of renaming two of their high schools to civil rights figures on Thursday, according to local news outlet WFSA.
“I’m glad we were able to put it on the table and move it forward so we can get this change going in a positive direction,” Montgomery Public Schools Superintendent Melvin Brown told the outlet.
According to the outlet, Robert E. Lee High school will become Dr. Percy Julian High School — swapping the Confederate general for the famed Black chemist.
The outlet noted that Jeff Davis High School will become JAG High School, an acronym for Judge Frank Johnson, Ralph Abernathy, and Robert Graetz. Johnson was a Black jurist who fought against segregation, Abernathy was a Black civil rights leader and Graetz was a local white pastor who helped the movement.
Brown’s recommendation comes from a list of 10 suggested names compiled by an outside committee, according to WFSA.
Board member Lesa Keith told WFSA that names like “Freedom High School and Liberty High school” would have been less divisive.
“By naming something one color to another color, it’s almost like we’re trying to beat each other,” Keith told WFSA. “If it were about unity, then the words “liberty” and “freedom” would have worked.”
Board member Arica Watkins-Smith told the outlet that the community “wanted to hear names that really resonated with the demographics of people who are here now, to give our children pride.”
According to the Alabama Department of Education, Montgomery County, almost 80 percent of students are Black.
“Our job is to make our spaces comfortable for our kids. Bottom line is we’re going to make decisions based on what our kids needs may be, not necessarily on sentiment around whatever nostalgia may exist,” Brown told WFSA.
