Fear not folks, the Davis Magnet school will no longer be named after a Confederate figure, but will instead be renamed after a divisive racist who did the most to divide this country since the Civil War.
A predominately black public school in Mississippi named after Jefferson Davis will have its Confederate tied namesake stripped next year and replaced with the title of another president whose character students, parents and teachers have said is more fitting— Barack Obama.
Could there be a better example of fighting racial tribalism with racial tribalism?
Davis Magnet IB PTA President Janelle Jefferson announced at the Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday evening that school stakeholders voted on Oct. 5 to rename the school Barack Obama Magnet IB.
Considering that Jefferson was a slave owner, shouldn't Janelle be renamed, Janelle Obama?
“Jefferson Davis, although infamous in his own right, would probably not be too happy about a diverse school promoting the education of the very individuals he fought to keep enslaved being named after him,” she told the board.
So Janelle is sparing Davis' feelings? And shouldn't the president of a magnet school be at least marginally literate? Also it doesn't seem as if Davis is particularly diverse.
A demographic breakdown of Davis Magnet’s enrollment for the 2017 school lists 98 percent of the school’s students as black.
The meaning of "diverse" seems to minority. And it's still diverse even if it's 98 percent black.
But English was invented by dead racist white men so why worry about it? I'm probably perpetuating the inherent white supremacy of literacy by even mentioning it.
Jefferson said the school community wanted to rename the campus “to reflect a person who fully represents ideals and public stances consistent with what we want our children to believe about themselves.”
That they're insufferable victims who are entitled to everything on account of their race and should work to divide us along racial lines while accusing everyone else of racism?
Anyway, like most of the culture war, this is all about rearraging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Attendees were aware of the possibility that Tuesday’s board meeting could be the last for the district in the long time. The state Board of Education requested in September for Gov. Phil Bryant to declare JPS in a state of emergency. That move would trigger a state takeover.
Bryant is expected to make a decision this week on whether to approve the board’s resolution.
His signature would result in the disbandment of the school board.
It was actually the possibility of being unable to meet again that spurred the board members at their Sept. 19 meeting to delegate their naming authority to PTA groups at three schools —Davis Magnet, George Elementary and Lee Elementary, named after Confederate leaders.
Priorities, priorities.