Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Israeli warplanes carry out two airstrikes on the outskirts of the town of Nabi Sheet in eastern Lebanon, near the Syrian border
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Israeli warplanes launch a series of airstrikes targeting the hills surrounding the town of Shmestar, west of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon
Colombia: President Gustavo Petro: Trump's insult to myself and Colombia is no longer aimed at achieving an effective counter-drug strategy
Trump cancels Putin meeting, says "didn't feel right"
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Caracas: The United States attacks another alleged drug-trafficking ship off the coast of Colombia in the Pacific Ocean
Palestinian official urges world to force 'Israel' to comply with ICJ ruling: AFP
Israeli media says Knesset approved bill to annex in West Bank in preliminary reading
Kremlin: As part of strategic nuclear force exercise, Cruiser Bryansk launched Sineva ballistic missile from Barents Sea.
Kremlin: Yars Intercontinental Ballistic Missile launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome at Kura test site in Kamchatka.
Kremlin: Strategic nuclear forces exercise took place under Putin's leadership.

Two Virginia schools vote to reinstate Confederate names: Axios

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Axios
  • 10 May 2024 12:15
3 Min Read

The Shenandoah County School Board has voted 5-1 in favor, four years after the racial justice protests erupted following the murder of George Floyd.

  • x
  • The South Carolina and American flags fly at half-staff behind the Confederate flag, in front of the State House in Columbia, South Carolina on June 19, 2015. (AFP)
    The South Carolina and American flags fly at half-staff behind the Confederate flag, in front of the State House in Columbia, South Carolina on June 19, 2015. (AFP)

A school board in Virginia has voted to reinstate the original Confederate names of two public schools in the state – Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School, in a recent first since the removal of Confederate symbols from US institutions and public spaces in 2020. 

The Shenandoah County School Board voted 5-1 in favor, four years after the racial justice protests erupted following the murder of George Floyd, reversing the board's 2020 decision to remove the local elementary and high schools' association with Civil War-era Confederate leaders Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Turner Ashby.

But now, Mountain View High School will be called Stonewall Jackson High School and Honey Run Elementary School will become Ashby-Lee Elementary School.

Following this decision, the local conservative group, Coalition for Better Schools, justified the board's move, saying that they "believe that revisiting this decision is essential to honor our community's heritage and respect the wishes of the majority."

Read next: Survey reveals 23% of Americans support state secession

Turner Ashby served as a Confederate cavalry commander who enslaved African Americans and called for violence against Northern abolitionists, according to Axios' justice and race reporter Russell Contreras. Ashby served under the leadership of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, a general who owned six enslaved people.

Related News

Maduro warns US against airstrikes, touts 5,000 Russian missiles

Gold inches down as dollar firms, focus on US inflation data

"The funds required to implement the restoration must be provided by private donations exclusively and not be borne by the school system or government tax funds, though the SCPS [Shenandoah County Public Schools] will oversee disbursements relating to restoration costs," according to the motion that was executed.

Starting from the roots 

In September of 2021, the largest Confederate monument in the US, which was a statue of Lee, was removed in Richmond, Virginia.

Then-President Donald Trump denounced the move, expressing that the takedown of the statue resembles the downfall of American culture. Moreover, he accused left "extremists" of demolishing the history of the state. He added that Americans ought not to permit that. 

It's worth recalling that last year, the Department of Defense (DoD) confirmed that Pentagon officials are planning on renaming military infrastructure tied to the Confederate States of America at the beginning of 2024, which includes nine Army bases, two Navy ships, and more than 1,000 items on American military installations.

Approximately $21 million is planned to be put toward renaming the nine Army bases located in Southern states named after Confederate figures, including forts Benning, Gordon, Bragg, Hood, Rucker, Polk, AP Hill, Pickett, and Lee. Another $41 million will be designated for roads, signs, buildings, and street names.

In addition, at the time, the 220-year-old West Point Academy officials removed monuments and objects that “commemorate or memorialize the Confederacy.”

It began a “multi-phase” process over the holidays to abolish all 13 references and monuments at the Academy that glorify the Confederacy, including a portrait of former West Point Superintendent Gen. Robert E. Lee.

  • United States
  • confederacy
  • Axios

Most Read

Yemeni Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Abd al-Karim al-Ghamari , during a ceremony in an undisclosed locations in Yemen, undate (Yemeni Military Media)

Yemeni Armed Forces mourn martyred Chief of Staff al-Ghamari

  • Politics
  • 16 Oct 2025
From previous scenes of the Qassam Brigades targeting an Israeli D9 bulldozer with a Yassin 105 shell, east of Deir al-Balah. (Military Media of the Qassam Brigades)

US knew fatal Rafah blast cause was not Hamas op., says journalist

  • Politics
  • 20 Oct 2025
Abu Hamza, the spokesperson for the Al-Quds Brigades, during a speech televised on October 22, 2025 (Al-Quds Brigades Military Media)

Al-Quds Brigades' Abu Hamza mourns leaders, vows continued resistance

  • Politics
  • 22 Oct 2025
Smoke and fire rises after 'Israel' launched airstrikes on the village of Ansar, Lebanon, October 16, 2025 (social media)

'Israel' launches two waves of brutal strikes on east, south Lebanon

  • Politics
  • 16 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Pro-Palestinian activists protest at Lafayette Park across from the White House to mark the approaching one year anniversary of the Israeli war on Gaza, Saturday, October 5, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Politics

Jewish figures call for sanctions on 'Israel' over Gaza genocide

Activists from the Foreign Press Association during a panel calling for press freedom in Gaza, April 11, 2025 in London, England. (X/ @FPALondon)
Politics

FPA demands Israeli court to allow int'l journalists access to Gaza

Matsapha Correctional Complex is seen in Matsapha, near Mbabane, Eswatini, Thursday July 17, 2025. (AP Photo)
Politics

Cuban man deported from US to Eswatini launches hunger strike

Russia President Vladimir Putin conducts a strategic nuclear forces exercise via videoconference from the Presidential Situation Centre at the Kremlin in Moscow, on Wednesday, October 22, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Politics

Putin oversees ICBM, cruise missile tests in strategic nuclear drill

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS