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LOST IN THE VALLEY
By STEPHEN J. DEREN
As a retired Virginia educator, it is disheartening to read about the Shenandoah County School Board’s decision to rename two of the schools within their district after certain Confederate Civil War generals. At a time when our nation needs to turn the corner on divisiveness and begin the arduous work of healing, some still strive to maintain outdated and hurtful policies that persist in dividing us.
The Civil War was absolutely fought over the issue of slavery. There is no denying that fact, and that the enslavement of one human being by another is reprehensible. Robert E. Lee, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, and Turner Ashby were all slave owners. These men fought to divide the United States of America; they were traitors to the U.S. Constitution by seceding and waging war. To honor individuals who fought our government to preserve the institution of slavery is the wrong message to send to our children. Surely, we can find more positive role models that everyone can be proud of.
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The slavery issue has plagued our country since its inception, and the after-effects are still present in our society today. That is why this decision to reinstate the names is so troubling, as it seeks to perpetuate disunity.
I read powerful and insightful statements from individuals attending the public hearing on May 9 arguing against the decision to reinstate the school names. Sarah Kohrs, a parent of students in the school district, said it best, “We deplore the board’s decision to regress and ‘honor’ Civil War figures that consciously betrayed the United States and were proponents of slavery and segregation. This decision seems more about vengeance, control and hatred than heritage or due process.” Another individual, Aliyah Ogle, a Black student athlete, stated that when playing other school teams, "I would have to represent a man (Stonewall Jackson) that fought for my ancestors to be slaves." The School Board appears to be deaf to the voices of the African Americans and those who support them in Shenandoah County.
So why the turnaround from the 2020 Shenandoah County School Board’s decision to restore the school names to the Civil War generals? Apparently, this new school board felt that the 2020 decision to rename the schools was made in a “knee-jerk” reaction to the “woke movement.”
What is this phrase “the woke movement” that the School Board is rallying around? It is a movement that involves educating people about injustice, inequality and discrimination and how it’s interwoven in our society, and that all of us need to recognize our history and respect our fellow human beings no matter their color, sex or religion.
Thomas Streett, a current board member who voted in favor of the name change, stated that he praised Stonewall Jackson’s values. What values, exactly? The ability to own another human being and profit from their free labor? Not a core value that I ever taught to my students over my 22-year career teaching elementary, middle, high school and college classes.
The Shenandoah County School Board is failing to recognize that this is an issue of education. What are we teaching our students, our children, about what we value in life?
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As teachers, I know that we try to teach students to help each other, help each other to learn, help each other to be safe. We teach them that they need to learn how to get along, consider different points of view and be respectful. We teach them that listening is important. We teach them to be kind, and that bullying is wrong. We also teach our students how to do research and find reliable information and sources. We teach them how to cross-reference their sources for validity and fact-check. We teach our students to tell the truth, even if they did something wrong, because it is better to be truthful, to own up, to admit mistakes and learn from them, and then to move on stronger and wiser than you were before. We teach them the dangers of lying and how if someone tells a lie loud enough and long enough, people start to believe it is true.
We need to be listening to one another, being empathetic toward one another, and choosing to change centuries of hate-filled status quo. There is no trying to explain it away by saying a school board decision was forced through without proper thought, or that we need to honor our ancestors. The ancestors were wrong. They were brought up in a society that condoned slavery for well over 200 years. It was an accepted way of life, but it was still wrong.
You cannot own another human being, and we should not honor anyone who believed that you could. This is the time in our history where we make the change, we decide to do the right thing, and move our country forward. It’s just common sense.
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Stephen J. Deren is a retired special education teacher and reading specialist who has taught in New Jersey and Surry County Public Schools in Virginia. Contact Deren at tephenjderen@gmail.com.
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