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Orange County Fla. School Board Changes Name of Robert E. Lee Middle School
Orlando Sentinel ^
| 14 February 2017
| Annie Martin
Posted on 02/17/2017 9:07:06 AM PST by Rebeleye
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Robert E. Lee Middle School, a name that many say harks back to a dark period in American history, will become College Park Middle. At the urging of parents and others from the College Park neighborhood, the Orange County School Board voted 7-1 to change the name during a regular meeting Tuesday night. The decision wraps up a year-and-a-half-long process that has included community surveys. Kat Gordon, Oranges only black school board member, said she tried to change the name of Lee decades ago when her own children were students there. District leaders then wouldnt hear it. In so many words, they told us to go back to our community and be glad we were even accepted at Robert E. Lee, she said. The dissenting vote came from board member Christine Moore, who represents Apopka and other areas of northwest Orange. She said the majority of her constituents did not want to change the schools name. Lee opened in 1956 as Robert E. Lee Junior High School, a whites-only school. The campus is now diverse: 60 percent of the students are black. Latinos, Asians and multi-racial students make up about one-fifth of the student body. The district expects to spend $20,000 to scrub the Lee name from places like signs, the gym floor and athletic uniforms.
Support for a new name has been strong but not unanimous in the community. A 2016 survey of Orange parents, students, employees and others showed 56 percent wanted to call the school something else. More than a dozen people spoke Tuesday during a public comment period. Opponents, including Robert Lynn, pointed out that Lee was a well-respected man. Lynn also disputed the notion that the school was named in protest of school segregation. The 1954 decision had nothing to do with it, he said. But others, including Julie Montione, said they saw the decision to name a school after Lee as an act of rebellion. This is our moment to decide what kind of message we want to send our community, said Montione, whose daughter is zoned to attend Lee. Our board does not look like the board in 1956, and our message is not the same. Similarly, Marsha Hall, whose children may attend Lee when theyre older, told board members she understands they cant change history, but urged them to choose a new name that reflects the inclusion and kindness of the community. Change the name and send the message to my African-American son and daughter that we not only care about how they represent the school, but how the school represents them, she said.
1
posted on
02/17/2017 9:07:06 AM PST
by
Rebeleye
To: Rebeleye
Our board does not look like the board in 1956, and our message is not the same.
And we know the education going on in this district isn’t the same either!
2
posted on
02/17/2017 9:09:51 AM PST
by
Maudeen
(No one on this earth is too far gone for Jesus.)
To: Rebeleye
Those 7 that voted to change the name, will proffer not one cent of the $20,000 it cost to have the name physically removed. ‘Other people’s money’...
3
posted on
02/17/2017 9:10:02 AM PST
by
simpson96
To: Rebeleye
Our board does not look like the board in 1956, and our message is not the same.
____________________________________________
Your current test scores aren’t like those in 1956. What’s your point?
4
posted on
02/17/2017 9:11:02 AM PST
by
TMA62
(Al Sharpton - The North Korea of race relations)
To: Rebeleye
[Robert E. Lee Middle School, a name that many say harks back to a dark period in American history, ]
What would these PC idiots know about real history.
5
posted on
02/17/2017 9:12:53 AM PST
by
headstamp 2
(Fear is the mind killer.)
To: Rebeleye
Pussies.
Robert E. Lee was one of the finest Americans to ever live.
6
posted on
02/17/2017 9:13:00 AM PST
by
Lurkinanloomin
(Natural Born Citizen Means Born Here Of Citizen Parents - Know Islam, No Peace -No Islam, Know Peace)
To: Rebeleye
Yale University is named for a slave trader
Elihu Yale (5 April 1649 8 July 1721) was an American-born British merchant, philanthropist and slave trader, President of the East India Company settlement in Fort St. George, at Madras, and a benefactor of the Collegiate School in the Colony of Connecticut, which in 1718 was renamed Yale College in his honor.[1]
7
posted on
02/17/2017 9:14:46 AM PST
by
Lexington Green
(Sun Tzu Trumps Saul Alinsky)
To: Rebeleye
Does this mean we’re going to have to give back Arlington Cemetery to the Lee family?
8
posted on
02/17/2017 9:19:10 AM PST
by
Yo-Yo
( Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
To: Rebeleye
Robert E. Lee Middle School ... will become College Park Middle.”
Not “Al Sharpton Middle School” or Hugo Chavez Middle School”?
9
posted on
02/17/2017 9:19:50 AM PST
by
SharpRightTurn
(White, black, and red all over--America's affirmative action, metrosexual president.)
To: Rebeleye
When I was a kid, the public schools used to TEACH American history, not ERASE it. As an American, I’ve got a problem with this.
10
posted on
02/17/2017 9:23:34 AM PST
by
FlingWingFlyer
(As long as tyranny exists, the Constitution and Bill of Right will never be "outdated" or "obsolete")
To: Rebeleye
There goes, a Robert E Lee... and he’s gone.
11
posted on
02/17/2017 9:34:36 AM PST
by
\/\/ayne
(I regret that I have but one subscription cancellation notice to give to my local newspaper.)
To: Rebeleye
At this point, I'm surprised there's anything left. Every year we get dozens of these types of stories; they're tearing down statues, re-naming roads/schools, removing flags, etc.
How much more is left before the whitewash is fully complete?
To: Rebeleye
They should come up with something catchy and more up to date.
- Malcolm X Middle School
- The Al Sharpton/Tawana Brawley Middle School
- Only Black Lives Matter Middle School
- The Mohammed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi Middle School
- The Bill Ayers-Bernerdine Dhorn Middle School
- The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan Middle School
- Muslim Brotherhood Middle School
- The Nidal Hasan Middle School
13
posted on
02/17/2017 9:36:37 AM PST
by
Iron Munro
(If Illegals voted Rebublican 66 Million Democrats Would Be Screaming "Build The Wall!")
To: Trump20162020
At this point, I'm surprised there's anything left. Every year we get dozens of these types of stories; they're tearing down statues, re-naming roads/schools, removing flags, etc. A nation of Winston Smiths rewritting history - Just as George Orwell warned in his book "1984".
14
posted on
02/17/2017 9:39:32 AM PST
by
Iron Munro
(If Illegals voted Rebublican 66 Million Democrats Would Be Screaming "Build The Wall!")
To: Iron Munro
Did these morons change it to Robert Byrd???
15
posted on
02/17/2017 9:41:45 AM PST
by
hal ogen
(First Amendment or Reeducation camp?)
To: Rebeleye
Lee was so above race and other issues, this is laughable.
Lee, Jackson and other Virginians had a much more simple goal: to remove intruders’ boots from Virginian soil.
16
posted on
02/17/2017 9:45:56 AM PST
by
lurk
(TEat)
To: SharpRightTurn
I’m just glad that it’s not Barack Obama Middle School.
17
posted on
02/17/2017 9:54:33 AM PST
by
reg45
(Barack 0bama: Gone but not forgiven.)
To: Rebeleye
If you erase history, it will just go away. Why “black history month?” Why should we have to learn about slavery when it makes me uncomfortable? Why do we have to name everything for MLK when it makes me uncomfortable that we had democrats beat and oppress black Americans? Why do we have memorials and schools named after slaves when “that’s not who we are?”
18
posted on
02/17/2017 10:12:06 AM PST
by
Organic Panic
(Rich White Man Evicts Poor Black Family From Public Housing - MSNBCPBSCNNNYTABC)
To: Maudeen
To TRAYVON MARTIN MIDDLE SCHOOL?
19
posted on
02/17/2017 10:32:49 AM PST
by
jch10
(President Trump, President Trump, President Trump! I just love saying that!)
To: Rebeleye
This will be fresh in a few more minds of voters in the 2018 mid terms.
I hope they keep this up!
20
posted on
02/17/2017 10:45:01 AM PST
by
PeteyBoy
(The wall. Build it and they won't come.)
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