Posted on 03/25/2005 11:24:01 PM PST by XR7
Name Change Debated For Two YearsBERKELEY, Calif. -- Thomas Jefferson Elementary School might change its name because the third U.S. president was a slave owner.
The question of whether to rename the school has been debated for more than two years. Principal Betty Delaney on Monday released a list of potential new names -- one nominated by a student, the rest by adults.
The possibilities include Ralph Bunche, the black diplomat at the United Nations who won the Nobel Peace Prize, and farmworker organizer Cesar Chavez.
"It's very clear that the name is offensive to a significant part of the population," said Marguerite Talley-Hughes, who sent her three children to Thomas Jefferson, adding that she thinks it's reasonable to want a name that is not offensive to some in the community.
Parents, students and teachers must first vote on a new name, then take a second vote on whether to replace Jefferson with the new name.
The school board must approve any change.
Critics say the name change proposal has received more attention than more important issues.
L.O.L.......forget about the school name you village idiots...just teach the kids to at least tie their shoes!...What a joke!
Not gonna happen--it's been settled. This will be the new "Jefferson Airplane Elementary."
Ping to 22.
LOL! They really should be realistic about their new name of school. I propose "Shade Grown" for their new name...
Good idea - then we can tatoo the students with their Gulag number and serial number.
I wonder if Ronald Reagan made the list? How about Paul Revere? No slaves there. Really the case is anti white male traditional values - has nothing to do with slavery and everything to do with promotion of the culture of crap.
Divas Husband
Yo! 2 + 2 = 5 Elementalry Skool, Dude
At the rate California is going down, in fifteen years it will be a hate crime just to BE a white man there.
Edi Amin Elementary
More than that, it's about anti-Americanism.
I find that sort of non-thinking very offensive, really!
While today both Washington and Jefferson are roundly condemned for owning slaves, it is nevertheless true that they both laid the first seeds for the abolition of slavery in the United States. Their first obstacle was the laws of Virginia Colony which forbade the freeing of slaves. When Jefferson tried to change the laws of Virginia in 1769, he ran into an obstruction in Crown law, which gave the Crown the unilateral and unambiguous power to strike down any and all American laws on any subject whatsoever. Virginians simply didn't have the liberty to free slaves.
Indeed, one great reason the Revolution was fought was to give liberty to the colonies to free slaves, which many of them did after we declared our independence. For example, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts abolished slavery in 1780, Connecticut and Rhode Island did so in 1784, Vermont in 1786, New Hampshire in 1792, New York in 1799, New Jersey in 1804, etc.
They care about these things, or that's my impression. And they're slowly learning about them. But there is still much work to be done educationally. There's also the question of what, if anything, people will actually do about such problems.
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