‘Unrepentant slaveholder.’ Schools removing president names, California district says

A California school district will rename two elementary schools named after U.S. presidents because their namesakes owned slaves, the school board said.

Jefferson and Washington elementary schools will be renamed as the Berkeley Unified School District board embraces the Black Lives Matter movement.

Jefferson Elementary was named after the nation’s third president, Thomas Jefferson, and Washington Elementary was named after George Washington, the first president of the United States.

Last week, the school district’s board unanimously approved the resolution supporting Black Lives Matter, which includes renaming the schools along with several other actions

“Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and a Framer of the Constitution, was nonetheless an unrepentant slaveholder whose wealth was built on the labor of the enslaved,” the school district’s resolution said. “Washington, to whose selfless service to a new nation this country is forever indebted, nonetheless profited from the enslaved labor of hundreds of human beings, and signed the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act.”

Berkeley residents tried to rename Jefferson Elementary in 2005, but the school board voted against it, according to the resolution.

But since the Memorial Day death of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter protests have broken out across the nation, with people demanding change, including the removal and renaming of statues, buildings and even cities that some say are painful reminders of America’s past.

Floyd, a Black man, died after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds..

“Noting that Black Lives Matter protests have swept the nation as demonstrators demand justice in response to the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and far too many other Black Americans to list, the Resolution In Support of Black Lives Matter includes … action steps,” the school district said.

Other steps in the resolution include displaying a Black Lives Matter banner in the school board chambers, supporting a Black Lives Matter at School week in February 2021, launching a campaign to celebrate the experience of Black students and identifying class and cultural biases.

This story was originally published June 15, 2020 at 4:31 PM with the headline "‘Unrepentant slaveholder.’ Schools removing president names, California district says."