Petition Started to Change Name of Robert E. Lee High School

A group who say they are Fairfax County Public Schools alumni and other concerned citizens has launched an online petition to change the names of several Fairfax County public schools including “high schools that bear the names of Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and J.E.B. Stuart and prominent segregationist W.T. Woodson.”

Fairfax County’s Robert E. Lee High School is located at 6540 Franconia Road in Springfield.

The school is named for Virginian Robert E. Lee a Confederate General during the U.S. Civil War who has been venerated as a heroic figure in the South. He commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.

The petition, posted to change.org, so far has 465 supporters; it is directed at Fairfax County School Board Member Sandy Evans, who represents the Mason District.

Debate over the flag and other Confederate symbols rose in the weeks after Dylann Roof allegedly opened fire on a traditionally black Charleston church, killing nine, on June 17.

Roof was associated with hate groups and had posted pictures of himself with white supremacist symbols, including the Confederate flag.

Also read:

Mayor: Alexandria City Council to Review City’s Confederate Symbols

Speaker Boehner Calls for Review of Confederate Symbols at U.S. Capitol

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