Posted on 12/14/2005 11:59:21 AM PST by SwinneySwitch
The debate comes down to this: Was Stonewall-Flanders Elementary School named for the legendary Confederate general Stonewall Jackson or for stone fences that adorned front yards in the neighborhood?
Harlandale Independent School District trustees will consider the question as they decide whether to grant a former district administrator's request to rename the school after César Chávez, the late social activist.
"We don't have any historical evidence that it was, indeed, named for Stonewall Jackson," district spokesman David Ochoa said Monday, when the Board of Trustees heard the proposal.
Nick Calzoncit thinks otherwise, though he can provide no concrete evidence to support his theory.
He has gathered 367 verified signatures within the school's attendance boundaries. Under district policy, he needed 351 signatures, or half the school's total enrollment, before district officials would consider his proposal.
The board could vote or decide not to take action at its January meeting.
Calzoncit says Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was a racist and the school should not bear his name.
"I evaluated all the schools in San Antonio that are named after racists and bigots," he said. "Stonewall stood out as the worst of all of the people."
Parent Monica Delgado said she has nothing against César Chávez, but the Stonewall name has been a part of the community for decades. The school opened in 1924.
"If they want to name a school after someone, it should be a new school, not an established school," she said.
Delgado said she tends to agree with an explanation offered by Felix Almaraz Jr., a history professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Almaraz said Stonewall Elementary was named for the street on which it was located. The street name, he said, reflected a local practice.
"Some residents gathered the stones that were on their properties, and they piled them up in front in a very neat configuration, and then they applied mortar and created stone fences," said Almaraz, who attended Stonewall Elementary in the 1940s.
At least three trustees criticized the proposal Monday. Trustee Tomas Uresti said he would not support the change. Trustees Doroteo Montelongo and Michael Tejeda defended the school's name.
Stonewall Elementary became Fenley-Flanders Elementary in 1996, after it merged with neighboring Flanders Elementary. The district decided the newly merged school should bear the name of Ray Fenley, a former administrator who died.
In 2003, when the district rebuilt Fenley-Flanders Elementary, community members pushed to name it after former school board member Edmundo Zaragosa. Another group of citizens wanted the Stonewall name restored to the school, and in the end, the board agreed to rename it Stonewall-Flanders Elementary.
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mmartinez@express-news.net
They could change it to honor the gay Stonewall riot in NYC.
San Antonio ping
They could be PC without even having to change the name, and claim it's named after the Stonewall Riots.
Chavez?! Lord knows THAT's not offensive. /extreme sarcasm
I foolishly allowed myself to be dissuaded by friends.
Actually, I believe it's spelled Thtonewall.
According to the liberal thought police - Castro Elementary school would be A-OK
Uh--I don't think schools are normally named with a persons nickname are they? If it was indeed named after Thomas J. Jackson it would be named the Jackson-Flanders Elementary school. I think the libs have the solution, but are in desparate need of a problem.
PC BS!
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off this South Texas/Mexico ping list.
Or they could name it 'Jackson'. Just don't specify which Jackson.
This is idiotic even for Harlandale. No one, not even the unintelligent, would name a school for the nickname of a person. They would have named it for the last name, hence Jackson-Fenley School. Of course, then all of those who thought it was named for Jesse Jackson might have been upset, but you can't please everyone.
"Or they could name it 'Jackson'. Just don't specify which Jackson."
This is in Texas, they should name it for one of the two Bush Presidents.
What's wrong with Flanders?
In Flanders Fields - a poem by Dr. John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Between the crosses, row on row,
We can't have that on a government building!/sarcasm
“It's named after Stonewall Jackson, who was a racist, a bigot, a slave owner,” says Nick Calzoncit, a community leader. “[Jackson was] responsible for the deaths of teenage boys at Chipultipec.”
I think it is more about Chipultipec!
http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=B148D6B6-F73D-42FC-A0D4-DDBE35520052
Civil War Controversy at Elementary School
LAST UPDATE: 12/9/2005 6:15:13 PM
Posted By: Lauren Jenkins
This story is available on your cell phone at mobile.woai.com.
A Civil War hero is at the center of a controversy within the Harlandale School District. Stonewall-Flanders Elementary is under attack by Hispanic leaders.
“It's named after Stonewall Jackson, who was a racist, a bigot, a slave owner,” says Nick Calzoncit, a community leader. “[Jackson was] responsible for the deaths of teenage boys at Chipultipec.”
Calzoncit claims history shows “Stonewall” Jackson slaughtered young Mexican soldiers during the Mexican-American war. Calzoncit says a school with nearly 100% Mexican-American enrollment shouldn’t be named after a man who committed such crimes. The school district isn’t buying that story.
“We don't have any historical proof it was indeed named after Stonewall Jackson,” says Harlandale ISD Spokesman, David Ochoa. “If there is evidence that the school was named after Stonewall Jackson that evidence needs to be brought to our attention.”
News 4 WOAI did a little digging. We contacted UTSA History professor Felix Almaraz to get some answers. Almaraz says Jackson was just a young lieutenant, and that the Mexican nationals were killed during battles with American forces.
“It was perhaps a tragedy of that war,” says Professor Almaraz.
Almaraz says the name of the school and the street has nothing to do with the Civil War hero.
“They would gather the loose stones and pile them up and apply mortar,” says Almaraz. “They created stonewalls.”
Despite what the professor says Calzoncit and members of the League of United Latin-American Citizens plan to present the Harlandale School board with petitions, calling for the name change. News 4 WOAI will let you know what happens.
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