The historic T.C. Williams High School, which was featured prominently in the 2000 Jerry Bruckheimer film Remember The Titans, is currently pursuing a name change via poll due to the fact that school namesake T.C. Williams was a white man from from the South. Leading suggestions for the new name include “George Floyd Memorial High School,” “Kamala Harris High School,” and “Diversity High School.”
The Alexandria City Public Schools Board has decided to rename two schools to appease Black Lives Matter lobbyists: T.C. Williams High School and nearby Matthew Maury Elementary. The move to rename the school has been given the title, “The Identity Project.”
Supporters of the name change can vote in a poll what they consider to be suitable replacements. Top suggestions include George Floyd Memorial High School, Kamala Harris High School, Diversity High School, Megan Markle High School, Rosa Parks High School, and Jarad Higgins High School (Jarad Higgins being the real name of deceased rapper Juice WRLD).
Suggestions for Matthew Maury Elementary include Black Lives Matter Elementary School, Barack Obama Elementary School, John Lewis Elementary School Kobe Bryant High School, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Elementary School.
National File has reported previously on the trend of Virginia schools being stripped of names that reference historical white male figures in the aftermath of the George Floyd riots.
In December, the Falls Church, Virginia School Board voted to change the names of George Mason High School and Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, despite polls showing resident’s opposition to the name changes by a massive 2-to-1 margin.
“After deep and careful consideration of everything I’ve heard and read, I conclude that renaming both schools is in the best interest of our students and a necessary part of our equity work,” School Board Chair Greg Anderson said of the issue, despite community polling which found that Falls Church residents oppose the name change by an over 2 to 1 margin.
“I considered the survey results and the community discussion that followed, and I revisited our public hearings,” Anderson said of the poll results. “…I conclude that the public is split,” he went on to say, despite just a quarter of poll respondents endorsing the name changes.
In October, the Virginia chapter of the NAACP demanded local public school districts accept “Terms of Conciliation” that include critical race theory curricula, an admissions lottery for students with C grades and higher, and forcing school staff to attend “equity training.”