Nathaniel Cline writing for Virginia Mercury: ‘Disappointed’: Black students suing Shenandoah school board for restoring Confederate names

The short version of this is that one of my neighboring counties had decided to strip the names honoring people who picked up arms to defend the legal ability of rich people to claim other human beings as property. Then the county had a change of representatives who then decided, in the 21st century, to restore the names of the two schools. Two of their students are now suing the district to stop this.

From the comments of the above linked article:

Brad London Jul 30, 2024 11:20am.
People need to learn from history to ensure it’s not repeated. Instead they have tried to erase history. Names of schools were not and are not the problem. And why is the NAACP still in existence? What rights and opportunities do blacks (or anyone else) not have today? Get over it people, it’s 2024. Acting like you are a victim or oppressed is absurd and smart people realize this. But democrats love playing the victim and race cards.

This man seems to be under the impression, as are many people who opened their mouth when this country was trying to pull down statues, that statues and honorific naming is some how “history”. It is not. Naming a building for someone is honoring them, not making a note in the historical record.

He also seems to be ignorant, and I’d be willing to guess “willfully ignorant” of the inequalities that continue to exist within our country between White people and BIPOC people, namely the permanent underclass of Black people. The BLM/George Floyd protests of recent years should be alone evidence to anyone with an average amount of brain cells and a half measure of compassion that how American police handle unarmed Black people is different than their encounters with White people. And furthermore - police killing unarmed people should be a crime regardless of race - or circumstance.

Anyway, thanks Brad London - you gave me the last piece of motivation that I needed to join the NAACP this week and contribute to their mission.