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[San Antonio, Texas] Harlandale board considers renaming 'Stonewall' school [César Chávez]
San Antonio Express-News ^ | 12/14/2005 | Michelle M. Martinez

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


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Texas; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: borderslanguage; cesarchavez; culture; dixie; idiots; killedbyhisowntroops; namesake; southronslost; stonewall; stonewalljackson; youlostgetoverit
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To: SwinneySwitch

Jeez.... What are these people's problems. When Chavez died I did a 421 person poll of the folks that worked in the hospital where I was employed. 356= Prize Fighter, 47= Don't know, 11= Political/Race/Human Rights, 7= Actor/Entertainer/Musician.


21 posted on 12/14/2005 1:07:07 PM PST by Texas WOP
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To: SwinneySwitch

Well, he's still lying about the "slave owner" part, and he's just stupid about the Chipultipec battle. Jackson was a young officer (not a commander at that time) in a war with Mexico. In wars with Mexico, Mexicans are the ones who get killed. If the war were with Canada, Canadians would have been killed. It's not like Santa Anna hadn't killed teenagers at the Alamo.


22 posted on 12/14/2005 1:07:31 PM PST by Turbopilot (Nothing in the above post is or should be construed as legal research, analysis, or advice.)
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To: SwinneySwitch
From Cesar Chavez's bio:

He felt that education had nothing to do with his farm worker/migrant way of life.

Source

So let's name a school after him....NOT!

23 posted on 12/14/2005 1:09:42 PM PST by ravingnutter
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To: SwinneySwitch

The League of United Latin-American Citizens is better known as LULAC. He doesn't seem to be concerned with the company he keeps.


24 posted on 12/14/2005 1:13:34 PM PST by voiceinthewind
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To: Doogle
They've already done worse: Camp Furlong in Columbus, NM has been renamed "Pancho Villa State Park" in honor of the Mexican who raided the American town in 1916 (precipitating General Pershing's Punitive Expedition).

I suppose in 50 years we can expect Ground Zero in NYC to be named "Mohammed Atta State Park" /sarcasm

25 posted on 12/14/2005 1:18:26 PM PST by Procyon
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To: SwinneySwitch
Hmmmm....

In the nineteenth century, prior to the War of Federal Aggression, Virginia law prohibited whites from teaching blacks to read and write. Though Stonewall Jackson was known as an upstanding and law-abiding citizen in Lexington, he routinely broke this law every Sunday.

Though the law was not strictly enforced, Jackson quietly practiced civil disobedience by having an organized Sunday school class every Sunday afternoon, teaching black children to read, and teaching them the way of salvation. There are still churches active today that were founded by blacks reached with the Gospel through Jackson's efforts. Jackson taught the Sunday school class for blacks while he served as a deacon in Lexington’s Presbyterian Church. "In Jackson’s mind, slaves were children of God placed in subordinate situations for reasons only the Creator could explain. Helping them was a missionary effort for Jackson. Their souls had to be saved. Although Jackson could not alter the social status of slaves, he could and did display Christian decency to those whose lot it was to be in bondage…he was emphatically the black man’s friend." – Dr. James I. Robertson

Stonewall Jackson, Champion of Black Literacy

26 posted on 12/14/2005 1:27:28 PM PST by ravingnutter
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To: Procyon
suppose in 50 years we can expect Ground Zero in NYC to be named "Mohammed Atta State Park"

..it won't take that long....you see what's happening to the Memorial now

Doogle>/p>

27 posted on 12/14/2005 1:29:02 PM PST by Doogle (USAF...8thAF...4077th TFW...408th MMS...Ubon Thailand..."69"..Night Line Delivery,AMMO)
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To: SwinneySwitch

What an idiot - and note who's DISAGREEING with him - all Spanish surnames, and even THEY don't want "Cesar Chavez" elementary school! Typical lib, sure that he's only protecting the poor, ignorant minorities by protecting their heritage. Argh.


28 posted on 12/14/2005 1:31:22 PM PST by jagusafr (The proof that we are rightly related to God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not")
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To: voiceinthewind

LULUAC League of United Latin Un-American Citizens


29 posted on 12/14/2005 1:34:57 PM PST by SwinneySwitch (Liberals-beyond your expectations!)
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To: ThisLittleLightofMine

Could it be after Ricardo Sanchez?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Sanchez


30 posted on 12/14/2005 1:36:27 PM PST by John Will
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To: SwinneySwitch

Yup, you said it right!


31 posted on 12/14/2005 1:36:51 PM PST by voiceinthewind
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To: jagusafr

You are right,liberals are so sure that "minorities" all think the same, THEIR way.


32 posted on 12/14/2005 1:41:30 PM PST by voiceinthewind
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To: proxy_user
Or they could name it 'Jackson'. Just don't specify which Jackson.

Yeah, and some RAT will claim it for Sheila "Don't you know who I am" Jackson-Lee.

33 posted on 12/14/2005 2:26:42 PM PST by mtbopfuyn (Legality does not dictate morality... Lavin)
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To: SwinneySwitch
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. Hmm, does he mean Mexican as in nearly 100% enrollment being illegal aliens?
34 posted on 12/14/2005 2:30:49 PM PST by mtbopfuyn (Legality does not dictate morality... Lavin)
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To: John Will

Nope they would never have that much class.....it is named after a school board member that died from cancer.


35 posted on 12/14/2005 4:45:44 PM PST by ThisLittleLightofMine
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To: SwinneySwitch
As a New Yorker, I think "gay bar" when I hear the word Stonewall.

That being said, Stonewall Jackson was from what is now West Virginia, while Cesar Chavez was from Delano, California. Why not name it after a great Tejano, like Juan Seguin?

36 posted on 12/14/2005 4:47:44 PM PST by Clemenza (Smartest words ever written by a Communist: "Show me the way to the next Whiskey Bar")
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To: Clemenza
Why not name it after a great Tejano, like Juan Seguin?

Or, Jose Antonio Navarro, another Texas patriot.

37 posted on 12/14/2005 6:36:43 PM PST by ol' hoghead (it'll only work)
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Comment #38 Removed by Moderator

Comment #39 Removed by Moderator

To: SwinneySwitch
There are a large number of Mexicans, South Americans, Spanards, and even US citizens of Hispanic ancestry deserving honor. César Chávez does not happen to be one of them. (Anyway, why not name a new school after the current héros du jour?)
40 posted on 05/04/2006 1:36:05 PM PDT by Doctor Stochastic (Vegetabilisch = chaotisch ist der Charakter der Modernen. - Friedrich Schlegel)
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