{"id":31688,"date":"2026-08-08T00:41:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T19:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=31688"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:41:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T19:41:34","slug":"federal-judge-orders-virginia-county-to-replace-confederate-school-names-it-restored-in-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=31688","title":{"rendered":"Federal judge orders Virginia county to replace Confederate school names it restored in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\" data-body-type=\"bodyblocks\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">ROANOKE, Va. (AP) \u2014 A federal judge has sided with the Virginia NAACP <a data-ylk=\"slk:in its lawsuit;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/shenandoah-county-school-board-confederate-names-schools-naacp-lawsuit-a0e0456e5aef571e9bb3178ab3d3849c\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">in its lawsuit<\/a> against a county school board&#8217;s <a data-ylk=\"slk:reinstatement of Confederate military names;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/virginia-confederate-school-names-26db1b3532208ef8fb1f545c1482b9ff\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">reinstatement of Confederate military names<\/a> to two schools, saying the decision discriminated against Black students and ordering the board to change the schools&#8217; monikers again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In an opinion filed Thursday in U.S. District Court of Virginia, Judge Michael F. Urbanski said the school board in Shenandoah County violated Black students&#8217; rights under the 14th Amendment&#8217;s equal protection clause, which forbids racial discrimination in state-supported institutions. The decision also violates the Equal Educational Opportunities Act, the court found.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Confederate army officers&#8217; names are &#8220;vestiges&#8221; of Shenandoah County&#8217;s segregationist history that required separate schools for Black and white students.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;The Confederate names were restored with complete awareness of their historic legacy and ongoing discriminatory impact,&#8221; Urbanski wrote. &#8220;In the court&#8217;s view, the affirmative act of reinstating these vestiges of segregation is far more problematic than a passive failure to remove a long-standing name or symbol.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The judge ordered the board to settle on new school names &#8220;on a racially nondiscriminatory basis with all deliberate speed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Unlike memorials named after Confederate figures, schools are places where children should have an &#8220;educational environment free of vestiges of racial discrimination,&#8221; Urbanski added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Jim Guynn, the attorney representing Shenandoah County, did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In a statement Friday, the NAACP Virginia State Conference called the ruling &#8220;a decisive victory&#8221; for students.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;For decades, the practice of honoring Confederate leaders in Virginia schools has been steeped in a history of racial discrimination,&#8221; said its president, the Rev. Cozy Bailey. &#8220;The school board&#8217;s 2024 renaming decision is impossible to explain except through the lens of race.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Washington Lawyers&#8217; Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs represented the NAACP.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;The court acknowledged that such names inflict real, racially disproportionate harm,&#8221; said Kaitlin Banner, deputy legal director.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Virginia NAACP filed the suit on behalf of six students and their parents in June 2024 after the school board voted 5-1 to change Mountain View High School back to <a data-ylk=\"slk:Stonewall Jackson;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/general-news-united-states-government-b0fe304f1fad44e19e5ff4490ad1110c\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Stonewall Jackson<\/a> High School and Honey Run Elementary back to Ashby-Lee Elementary, which combines the names of Gen. Robert E. Lee and Turner Ashby, a Confederate cavalry officer. The board reversed a 2020 decision to remove the original names against a backdrop of nationwide protests over racial injustice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The NAACP argued in its lawsuit that Black students, who make up less than 3% of the school system&#8217;s population, would be &#8220;required against their will to endorse the violent defense of slavery pursued by the Confederacy and the symbolism that these images have in the modern White supremacist movement.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Under President Donald Trump&#8217;s second administration, some statues honoring Confederate figures <a data-ylk=\"slk:have been restored;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-pike-statue-confederate-dc-george-floyd-3b0e8fd940a6bb6432992bb615b66336\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">have been restored<\/a> after being removed in 2020. It is part of <a data-ylk=\"slk:Trump's ongoing efforts;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/smithsonian-trump-history-museum-teachers-3bfba38c574e9b72824f5b4c4f633d52\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Trump&#8217;s ongoing efforts<\/a> to control how American history is framed at Smithsonian museums, monuments in national parks and in classrooms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Board members who voted to restore the Confederate names <a data-ylk=\"slk:said they were honoring;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/virginia-confederate-school-names-26db1b3532208ef8fb1f545c1482b9ff\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">said they were honoring<\/a> popular community sentiment. They said the previous board members who voted to remove the names in 2020 had ignored constituents and due process on the matter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ROANOKE, Va. (AP) \u2014 A federal judge has sided with the Virginia NAACP in its lawsuit against a county school board&#8217;s reinstatement of Confederate military names to two schools, saying the decision discriminated against Black students and ordering the board to change the schools&#8217; monikers again. In an opinion filed Thursday in U.S. District Court&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/lo\/mysterio\/api\/0acd209cd4a7f0c7ee8d13117f1913882425ba23cb228b8abf860a404d1b4660\/lightyear_networkapi\/resizefill_w1200%3Bquality_80%3Bformat_jpg\/https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Fap.org%2F219328453a56d64589ba6ebf76ef198e","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-trending-viral-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}