Victory: Jacksonville activists win name change for Nathan B. Forrest High School

[ckaihatsu]

Victory: Jacksonville activists win name change for Nathan B. Forrest High School

School was named for KKK grand wizard


By staff

Jacksonville, FL - With more than 50 activists and community members present, the Duval County School Board voted unanimously, Dec. 16, to change the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest High School. The historic vote by the school board comes at the end of a six-month campaign by the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC) and other forces to drop the local high school's racist namesake.

"We have to change the name of this school because this city can no longer honor a slave trader, war criminal and grand wizard of the KKK," said Richard Blake, a Teamster and member of the JPC who spoke at the school board meeting before the vote. "The heritage of Nathan B. Forrest is not our heritage - it is that of the oppressor."

Superintendent Nikolai Vitti began the school board meeting by sharing the board's findings in polling the community about the name change. A poll conducted last week by the school board at Forrest High School found that about 64% of the student body favored changing the name. He then made a recommendation to the board to change the school's name, which was approved by every board member.

Paula D. Wright, one of the school board members who spoke out in support of the name change, said, "We talk about what's in a name. A name does matter because it can service the foundation of how we think of ourselves and how we move beyond the particular place we're in at the time." She shared with the board and the audience her own story of attending school and receiving second-class treatment as an African American student. "This moves our entire city towards equality and justice."

The campaign to rename Forrest High School drew hundreds of community activists together, who attended forums, gathered petitions and protested the school's racist name. More than 160,000 people signed an online petition at change.org started by Jacksonville community activist Omotayo Richmond. The JPC spent months gathering more than 2000 hand-written community surveys, which overwhelmingly showed support for changing the name. Supporters of the name change also brought their energy and arguments to several town hall forums called by the school board, which pressured the board into changing the name.

Forrest High School, named after the infamously racist slave trader and Confederate general Nathan B. Forrest, received its name in 1959. The United Daughters of the Confederacy chose the name as a stunt to protest the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, which desegregated all-white schools throughout the country. To advance their racist agenda, they ignored the students' vote to keep the school named Valhalla High School.

The name Nathan Bedford Forrest is a blunt reminder of racist hatred, violence and terror. Forrest was a brutal slave trader, ordered the infamous Fort Pillow Massacre, and led the KKK. At Fort Pillow, Forrest’s troops executed hundreds of captured and surrendering Union soldiers, most of whom were African American, which Forrest bragged about in his military dispatches. The Daughters of the Confederacy chose the name to intimidate courageous African American civil rights activists, many of them teenagers, struggling for freedom.

"Tonight was a historic blow to the racism of the Deep South," said Fernando Figueroa, an activist with the JPC. "The neo-confederates who spoke in favor of Forrest saw the writing on the wall. We're building the freedom struggle in Jacksonville star by star."

When Forrest High School opened in 1959, it was an all-white, segregated school. Today, 54% of the school's approximately 1800 students are African-American.

Jason Fischer, another school board member, concluded his remarks in support of the name change, saying, "We need to make today about honoring the future, which is our children."

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[Remus Bleys]

how does this relate to communism and/or fascism

[Lenina Rosenweg]

How does the US civil rights movement relate to communism/or fascism? The high school was literally named after the founder of the KKK, a paramilitary death squad organisation designed to keep black people oppressed.

Rosa Parks was a liberal. Should we ignore her? Should we ignore the protests against the murder of Trayvon Martin? Should we ignore the solidarity campign around Troy Davis because it was dominated by liberals?Does justice for the woman in Florida who was sentenced to 20 years for firing a warning shot at her abusive husband habe anything to do with "communism"?

[G4b3n]

how does this relate to communism and/or fascism

It is a victory over white supremacy. I live in Jacksonville and know quite a few people who went to Forrest and there are fascists and just typical racists (including those on our school board) who defend the heritage, so this ought to be regarded as what is; a victory. I could not imagine being black and having to attend a school named after a slave trader.

[Remus Bleys]

How does the US civil rights movement relate to communism/or fascism?
So the city school name, which is shit don't get me wrong, being changed seriously led to an increase quality of life for black students attending said school? That's what my question was about. I genuinely don't know. How did the school change actually help the black students attending? How many students actually knew who this Forrest guy was?

The rest of your post is bullshit strawman.

[G4b3n]

So the city school name, which is shit don't get me wrong, being changed seriously led to an increase quality of life for black students attending said school? That's what my question was about. I genuinely don't know. How did the school change actually help the black students attending? How many students actually knew who this Forrest guy was?

The rest of your post is bullshit strawman.

Try for one second to imagine being a black student who attends a school named after a slave owner who acted as a brutal oppressor of your ancestry. Now you are no longer a black student who attends a school named after a slave owner who acted as a brutal oppressor of your ancestry. Literally everyone knows who he was, again, as a local I can vouch for this.

[Remus Bleys]

Try for one second to imagine being a black student who attends a school named after a slave owner who acted as a brutal oppressor of your ancestry. Now you are no longer a black student who attends a school named after a slave owner who acted as a brutal oppressor of your ancestry.
Imagine you are a black student who attends high school. You're made fun of, looked at as being stupid, and while many of the students can "accept" you, many of them still see you with suspicion and because its the type of town to name a school after a klansman, you probably face a lot of physical actions or intimidation from some of the more backwards locals.
Okay, now imagine that the name of your school changed, which is probably nice. A guy that oppressed your ancestry no longer has his name on your school.
Okay, imagine the next day. The above still holds true, as you are still oppressed.

The discrimination that black people feel is not only a historical one that we simply need to erase from our public discourse, it is still alive and well. Which is why I question the validity in a simple name change. Something more needs to be done. And to go "VICTORY WE WON" does not give that impression.

Literally everyone knows who he was, again, as a local I can vouch for this.
Okay thanks. I mean, at my high school I seriously doubt many people actually knows who Nathan Forrester was. That's why I am curious. I don't know why that instantly turned into "hey remus you hate rosa parks."
Im not condemning this, it seems like a really good thing. But there needs to be perspective.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

If I remember Nathan Bedford Forest was the commanding officer at the Fort Pillow massacre-murdering African-American Union prisoners of war. He later went on to found the Klan.

How would a Jewish kid feel about going to Eichman High? A Lakota kid going to General Custer Memorial Middle School? An Armenian kid going to Attaturk Preparatory Academy? The claim to fame of these historic people (except for Attaturk)is that of an oppressor against a specific group.

Revolution is a process. I mentioned the civil rights movement because (of which the Jacksonville struggle is a part) because its the struggle of the black working class.In and of itself it may not directly lead to socialism but any lmovement for liberation ultimately is against the rule of capital. We can't dismiss a struggle because its seen as "refdormist". A communist would be active in the campaign to rename the school because that's what a communist does.

BTW I think most people, white or black, in the US South know who Forrest was.

[Bala Perdida]

I haven't been here to long so I can't judge perfectly, but I think Remus is saying this might fit better in "ongoing struggles".:confused: Maybe?

[Remus Bleys]

Okay now you are putting words into my mouth.
Where did I condemn this action at all? I mean, fucking read my posts before you reply to me for once, huh?
The way this email is laid out is as if everything is all good and is from an obviously liberal standpoint, which itself neither is communist nor effective.
The struggle to end it is stifled when liberalism is added to it. Something else needs to be done in order to solve the racism in said school, and a name change, while symbolically and probably psychologically important, does not do away with intimidation from racist students does it?
This chainletter chris posted does not say "A step in destroying racism" it says that this is a victory in-and-of itself, when in fact this is simply a tool (albeit a necessary tool) to destroy racism. That is what I was criticizing. The perspective of this email, not of civil rights movements.
In the likely case this will go over your head again, I will write it in all caps:
SOMETHING MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE
A communist does not participate in simple name changes. A communist participates in movements to end racism, which includes changing the names of schools.

[G4b3n]

Imagine you are a black student who attends high school. You're made fun of, looked at as being stupid, and while many of the students can "accept" you, many of them still see you with suspicion and because its the type of town to name a school after a klansman, you probably face a lot of physical actions or intimidation from some of the more backwards locals.
Okay, now imagine that the name of your school changed, which is probably nice. A guy that oppressed your ancestry no longer has his name on your school.
Okay, imagine the next day. The above still holds true, as you are still oppressed.

The discrimination that black people feel is not only a historical one that we simply need to erase from our public discourse, it is still alive and well. Which is why I question the validity in a simple name change. Something more needs to be done. And to go "VICTORY WE WON" does not give that impression.

Okay thanks. I mean, at my high school I seriously doubt many people actually knows who Nathan Forrester was. That's why I am curious. I don't know why that instantly turned into "hey remus you hate rosa parks."
Im not condemning this, it seems like a really good thing. But there needs to be perspective.

This has been an issue that activists here have struggled for and been denied time and time again, no one ever said "victory we won", just a victory, the validity shouldn't be of question. You simply asked what this has to do with anti-fascism and I was just informing you, not denying that more needs to be done, of course more needs to be done.

[Remus Bleys]

I haven't been here to long so I can't judge perfectly, but I think Remus is saying this might fit better in "ongoing struggles".:confused: Maybe?
basically. I don't really understand why the American South in the Civil War is being called fascist (thats really absurd), and the perspective of the email i disagree with - this is an ongoing struggle, not some final victory

[G4b3n]

basically. I don't really understand why the American South in the Civil War is being called fascist (thats really absurd), and the perspective of the email i disagree with - this is an ongoing struggle, not some final victory

It is because fascists celebrate and defend the racist legacy of the civil war and the reactionary positions of the civil rights era. Again, there are fascists here and they do defend these things.

Again, literally no one has used the word "final" or "we won", just "victory".

[Remus Bleys]

Nah but the way the article was written implied that. See the lack of other examples of discrimination that still needed to be combatted

[Remus Bleys]

also the KKK isn't really fascist
not sure why so many leftists think it is,

[Logical seal]

I would like to quote in somthing


Whats in a name?

[blake 3:17]

The undeniable truth is that this action delivers no tangible benefits for the black student body at large and — unless the single-issue activists involved expand their focus to real, extant racial oppression in the region; undertake meaningful action in support of other proletarian initiatives; and help to channel all these struggles together under a capable and resolute leadership — this minor upset for neo-Confederates means nothing for the prospects of the class movement.

Who are you talking about? The JPC are not a single issue campaign group.

I was going to make a joke about Third Period Stalinism, but realized it was actually during the Third Period that a small, but significant, section of both Southern Whites and Northern Blacks took serious action in support of Black workers in the South. Proletarian integrated groups at the time would enforce Jim Crow!

Smash the Klan!

[blake 3:17]

basically. I don't really understand why the American South in the Civil War is being called fascist (thats really absurd), and the perspective of the email i disagree with - this is an ongoing struggle, not some final victory

The tragic absurdity has been the continuation of racist hate, violence and exploitation.

There have been a few leftists who've supported or defended the Confederacy.

Anyways... when you're dealing with Klansmen, Nazis, CotC, etc -- you don't give a fuck about their precise affiliation & they don't give a shit what type of Marxist or anarchist you are. You keep your loved ones safe & you knock them as hard as you can.

Love seeing a Nazi running from a woman old enough to be his mother.

[Remus Bleys]

The tragic absurdity has been the continuation of racist hate, violence and exploitation.

There have been a few leftists who've supported or defended the Confederacy.

Anyways... when you're dealing with Klansmen, Nazis, CotC, etc -- you don't give a fuck about their precise affiliation & they don't give a shit what type of Marxist or anarchist you are. You keep your loved ones safe & you knock them as hard as you can.

Love seeing a Nazi running from a woman old enough to be his mother.
doesnt really address anything ive said at all but that is to be expected
klansmen aren't really fascist. And its in the Anti-Fascist subboard. Im not even passing judgement im saying why is it in this board?

[BIXX]

Members of the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition protested against voter suppression laws in March, and participated in two anti-war marches on Congressmen's offices in September, but aside from that have expended the vast majority of their energies on changing the name of a local high school, making them effectively a single-issue campaign group.

The great irony here is that their minor contingents in the handful of Forrest-High-unrelated protests they've ever been involved in have already contributed more to the historical development of the class movement in the long run than this feel-good, slow-news-day filler story could ever hope to, and yet it's given all this unwarranted attention.

As for the left, more generally:

"A historic blow to racism"?

"A victory over white supremacy"?

Get real.


I just have a question for you: are you white?

I don't really care much if you respond publicly because people lie on the Internet all the time, but I'd be interested in hearing what minorities feel about the situation. If it makes them even a little happier that the name has been changed, it's worth it to me. Feelings do matter, no matter how much we try to say "look they're useless, making a few people a bit happier doesn't contribute to class struggle".

I don't give a fuck if it doesn't help class struggle. At least some people will have minorly better feelings.

Of course our aim is to destroy the social order and abolish capitalism and this and that, but acknowledging little good things is good sometimes, too.

[Czy]

Remus you're being remarkably stubborn and pedantic. Whether this belongs in the anti-fascist or on-going struggles subforum is a matter of semantics (quite literally). This was an important victory, symbolically, and sharing it on the forum is worthwhile. I for one didn't know about this event before reading it here.

[Czy]

I get the feeling that you're being deliberately contrarian and argumentative for the sake of it. There's no argument here... Whether this is a significant benefit for black students is irrelevant, the fact is that an effort to combat racism, in this case a bitter historical case of racism, is being made, and as leftists I feel sharing this information is worthwhile.

[Remus Bleys]

I get the feeling that you're being deliberately contrarian and argumentative for the sake of it. There's no argument here... Whether this is a significant benefit for black students is irrelevant, the fact is that an effort to combat racism, in this case a bitter historical case of racism, is being made, and as leftists I feel sharing this information is worthwhile.
no i have felt from the vast majority of people believe that these actions are final vicotries in and of itself, and while its worthwile even if it benefits the few, it isn't some great victory.

How many times do i need to state i am attacking the point of view of the article and not the action itself?

anyway i am white but i did grow up in a biracial home. I know that doesn't give me any real incite to discrimination, but i do feel if that we are bringing up "are you white" that that is relevant information.