Virginia struggles with push to eliminate Confederate symbols
Posted: Sunday, August 30, 2015 12:15 am
BOB STUART
... The Shenandoah Valley is no stranger to highways and schools bearing the names of Confederate leaders. There is Robert E. Lee High School in Staunton, and U.S. 11 in Augusta County is named Lee Highway north of Staunton and Lee-Jackson Highway south of Staunton.
Any change of road names in Augusta County would have to come from the local government, said VDOT Spokesman Ken Slack. Augusta County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mike Shull said there has been no discussion of a change to highway names in the county.
Staunton School Board Chairman Ron Ramsey said there has been some one-on-one conversation about a potential name change for Lee High. But Ramsey said the more pressing issue is the potential construction of a new Lee High. "The focus is more on the physical plant,'' said Ramsey. He said if Staunton City Council gives approval, it could be at least 4 years before ground is broken on a new Lee. Land would have to be purchased, and architectural plans would have to be developed ...
McPherson said more recognition of the contributions of pioneering African-Americans could be the answer. He pointed to the numerous memorials to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the renaming of BWI Airport to Thurgood Marshall Airport ...
http://www.dailyprogress.com/newsvirginian/news/signs-of-conflict-virginia-struggles-with-push-to-eliminate-confederate/article_09cf0ed4-4ebe-11e5-bf98-13bc6b434204.html
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