By Allan Wall
10/26/2017
In a previous article I wrote about the controversy over Oklahoma City schools named after Confederate generals, including Stand Watie, a Cherokee general who fought for the Confederacy. See Confederate Purge Hysteria Rages On — Threatens Cherokee General Stand Watie And…Joan Of Arc??!! Time For Trump To Call A Halt .
Now the Oklahoma City school board has unanimously voted to remove the Confederate names and rename the schools.
From NewsOK:
Oklahoma City School Board members voted unanimously Monday night [October 23rd] to change the names of three schools named after Confederate leaders amid little protest. The board voted 7-0 to rename Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Isaac Stand Watie elementary schools, which Superintendent Aurora Lora previously said do not "reflect our values in 2017." After the vote, board member Charles Henry referenced Lora by saying "it never reflected our values." "It is the right thing to do for our kids and for the people who had to live this history," board Chairwoman Paula Lewis said.Oklahoma City board votes to change school names by Tim Willert, NewsOK, October 23, 2017
The current state of Oklahoma was Indian Territory during the Civil War, and many Indians took sides, with Stand Watie serving as a Confederate general.
There was at least one person who spoke up for not changing the school names.
Larry Logan, representing Sons of Confederate Veterans, urged the board not to change the names of the schools because he said it would alter history. "They may change the name of those schools, but those men are honorable men and they always will be," Logan said. "Their memories will live on."After the Civil War, Oklahoma was settled by whites from both the South and the North. Mr. Logan’s family was from the South, while my family was from the North. One of my relatives, James Dunlavy of Iowa (known as Uncle Jimmy in the family) was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for capturing Confederate general John Sappington Marmaduke at the Battle of Mine Creek, Kansas, in 1864.
But today’s hysteria about history goes beyond North and South, and even beyond the Civil war legacy. What’s occurring today, and the way it’s being carried out, is an attack on American heritage.
These schools had these names for a long time. Why is it now suddenly time to change them?
And guess what? The board has voted to remove the Confederate names, but they don’t even have replacement names!
After the vote, the district launched an online survey to find suitable replacement names for the schools in south Oklahoma City. "As the district begins the input process to determine the names these facilities will bear moving forward, I hope to use it as a teachable moment for our students and to establish a positive image and a sense of pride for these school communities to carry them into the future," Lora said. Parents, teachers, students and community members are encouraged to participate in the survey, which is open until Nov. 30, district officials said….
There’s a cost estimate.
District officials estimate it will cost $40,400 to remove the names from all three schools, including engravings in stone entrances at Jackson, 2601 S Villa, and Stand Watie, 3517 S Linn. "We are going to do everything we can to improve upon that cost," said Scott Randall, the district’s chief operating officer.It looks like somebody’s stepped up to pay.
A local attorney with ties to Oklahoma City Public Schools has agreed to pay to remove all signs and symbols associated with the schools' Confederate namesakes. Kyle Sweet, a health care attorney with offices in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, has told The Oklahoman that he’s more interested in doing the right thing than making a political statement.This board member wants to have his cake and eat it too.
Board member Ron Millican, who represents Lee, 424 SW 29, said he doesn’t think the district should pay to remove the names. "I’m not opposed to changing the names," he said. "I don’t think our budget merits this type of cost at this time. "This would be an added expense to our budget, and I’m not in favor of that at all."Didn’t I report in that previous article that there were four schools named after Confederate generals?
I certainly did, as that’s what we were led to believe. But it turns out that wasn’t true after all.
Last month, historians told the board that a fourth school — Wheeler Elementary — was not named after Confederate Gen. Joseph Wheeler after all. The district plans to dedicate the school in honor of James Wheeler, a former city father.What? So they thought it was named after a Confederate general but it was actually named after another Wheeler?
So on the one hand the names of these schools are very important and have a great influence on the children in those schools and it’s a big social justice cause, etc. But then they find out that it wasn’t even named after the person they thought it was!
Despite its unique history, Oklahoma is turning out like any other politically correct political entity.
As I reported several years ago, it is now forbidden for Oklahoma City schools to hold reenactments for the kiddies of the historical land runs of Oklahoma.
But it was a land run that founded Oklahoma City in 1889.
What we’re seeing in Oklahoma and the nation at large is a society that repudiates its own heritage. And in exchange for what?
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