Last modified 11/9/2008 - 12:54 am Originally created 110908   School name seen as bigger issue of image

Do you agree with the School Board's decision not change the school's name? Yes No   [ View results ]

Nathan Bedford Forrest was denounced as a slave trader and praised as a Confederate hero.
 

By TOPHER SANDERS and MARY KELLI PALKA, The Times-Union

Since the Duval County School Board voted along racial lines last week to keep the name of an early Ku Klux Klan leader on a majority black high school a day before Barack Obama was elected the country's first black president, the story has put the city in an uncomfortable national spotlight - from The New York Times to Fox News.

The board reaffirmed Nathan Bedford Forrest High School's name on a 5-2 vote Nov. 3, despite debate that Forrest was a slave trader believed by some to have committed atrocities against black people during the Civil War. Others argued that Forrest was a Confederate war hero deserving of recognition.

The debate could be hurting Jacksonville's image.

"This is an unfortunate distraction that does not reflect well on the city," Mayor John Peyton said.

And it has some of the city's community leaders worried that it could affect business and personnel recruitment efforts as well as its image - reminding people that this is a community that took nearly two decades to implement the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown vs. Board of Education decision ending segregation.

In fact, the School Board's two black members - who voted to change the school's name - said the school was given Forrest's name in 1959 to "spit in the face" of integration.

"It's sadden me," said one of the two members, Brenda Priestly Jackson. "Because in my spirit I knew how my fellow board members would vote, but in my heart I hoped they would do something different. The city doesn't deserve a world-class reputation if we're not living it in practice."

On Election Day, a CNN Radio journalist told board Chairwoman Betty Burney, who also voted to change the name, that as it appeared the country was turning a page on history with the potential election of Obama, it appeared Jacksonville was staying on the same page.

"I told them that our district is capable of turning the page," Burney said, "but the perception of the vote makes it look as if we could not."

Burney said she believes the school was named in defiance of desegregation.

"How progressive are we being if we're upholding the same intent?" she said.

Board member Kris Barnes said she voted to keep the name because the push to change the name came from community outsiders and not the school's students. In fact, she said that when polled, the students weren't in favor of changing the name.

The Times-Union received a copy of a March 2007 poll that showed the school's students were nearly split on the issue. Of 1,029 students surveyed, 53 percent said they wanted to keep the name. Among black students, however, 57 percent wanted to change the name.

"I think it should stay," said John Folckemer, 18, a white senior at Forrest who wore a Confederate flag T-shirt. "We're not the ones who made up the name. It's the past; why punish us? I'm not Nathan Bedford Forrest; I wasn't in the KKK. Just because he was, why change it?"

Folckemer said he had black and white friends who didn't care about the name.

Cardel Brown, 18, also a senior at Forrest, had a different opinion.

"I don't see nothing good he did," said Brown, who's black. "He, being the founder of the KKK, that's kind of congratulating him. Giving him a [school] name is saying, 'thank you for screwing up America.' You might as well name schools after Bin Laden, Saddam and the rest of the people who did something bad to America."

Barnes said the board's decision was about education and not race and none of the board members who voted to the keep the name are racist.

"I would say to people who want to look at us as a racist community because of this one decision to look at how Duval County voted in the presidential election," said Barnes, who campaigned for Obama. "I would hope they look more at how we voted as a community than how the School Board voted on changing the name."

In Duval County, a largely conservative area that gave President Bush almost 58 percent of votes in 2004, Obama lost the county by just 7,000 votes - only 1 percentage point.

"We almost took the county for Obama, and trust me that was not only the African-American vote, that could never have happened without a lot of white folks voting," Barnes said.

"To me that is a far bigger statement than us voting to not change the name of a high school."

Barnes wrote the agenda item, recommending to keep the name, for her last board meeting. The board voted to waive its own policies for a public hearing and went against the historical practice of taking the recommendation from the School Advisory Council, which in this case wanted to change the name. But Barnes said she thought it was important to wrap up the issue.

Incoming board members Stan Jordan and W.C. Gentry said they also would have voted to keep the name of the school. They replace Barnes and Martha Barrett, who also voted to keep the name.

Gentry said his chief concern would be the students and not perception.

"So do you make decisions based on how you're going to be viewed in The New York Times? I don't," he said.

But now that the news is in national media, it could affect the brand of the city, said Michael Munz, a local public relations expert.

"I think anytime you've got something that is arousing the passions that this subject matter is arousing and has the perceived negatives it does, it could have an affect on how people perceive us outside of the market," Munz said.

He said as the city pitches to companies that Jacksonville is a great place to move, people will Google the area to find out more.

"Whether you agree or disagree about Forrest High School being the name to me is now secondary," Munz said. "It's about how the debate affects the brand of Jacksonville."

Jerry Mallot, executive vice president of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce said he was disappointed to see the Forrest story catch traction outside of Jacksonville.

"It certainly is not helpful to us," Mallot said. "But I don't think it will change the minds of people because it was a single story and it flashed on a day. All or most of our companies recruit from various parts of the country for specialized talent and I don't think that's going to change."

Peyton said Jacksonville has much to offer businesses and residents, and the name of Forrest High School won't deter them from coming.

But the issue is likely to come up again.

"It won't be the last time," Priestly Jackson said, "and it shouldn't."

topher.sanders@jacksonville.com , (904) 359-4169 mary.palka@jacksonville.com , (904) 359-4104
 

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/110908/met_353875219.shtml

Last modified 11/4/2008 - 12:28 am
Originally created 110408

Nathan Bedford Forrest High School's name will remain unchanged.

The Duval County School Board voted 5-2 Monday to leave the name of Forrest High School, which honors the Confederate general, slave trader and early leader of the Ku Klux Klan. The decision ends two years of controversy over a possible name change.

The vote to change the name of the majority black school split down racial lines, with board members Betty Burney and Brenda Priestly Jackson, the board's only black members, casting the two votes to change the name.

Priestly Jackson and Burney said the school was named after Forrest in 1958 as a slap in the face to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Brown vs. Board of Education to integrate schools. "It was done to slap in the face integration and now the school itself is almost all African-American," Burney said.

Board members voting to keep the name said energy surrounding the issue and the resources it would take the change the name are better suited to helping the school improve its academics.

Forrest received an F on the most recent Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

Board member Kris Barnes, who wrote the agenda item recommending the rejection of the name change, said she had a problem that the issue was raised by the community instead of the students going to the school.

Barnes said she wouldn't be able to understand the pain the name may cause blacks, but said she was frustrated so much time was being spent on a name of a school.

"I would like the see it go through a process started by the student body," Barnes said.

Board member Vicki Drake said she was displeased by the number of people who showed up at Forrest's School Advisory Council meetings to voice their concerns about the name change, but wouldn't come to the meetings to help the children at the school succeed.

"The children didn't ask anybody to change the name of their school, the children asked for help to read and write," Drake said.

Board member Tommy Hazouri agreed with Drake and Barnes.

"For me in my heart, I think the great concern today is moving that school off the F chart," he said. "I believe that we should leave the name where it is."

The board voted after listening to more than two hours of public comment. About 100 people concerned about the name change attending the board meeting.

The public's statements featured dueling histories and opinions of Forrest and his life. Opponents said removing Forrest's name was a step toward erasing Southern heritage and called Forrest a civil rights advocate and a good man.

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/110408/met_351685682.shtml

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For all of those people who think the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest High School should be changed, just one question ...

Where have you been?

The school badly needs mentors to help give students advice and direction and help guide them in college applications. But you're never around.

For all those people who think the name should remain the same, especially alumni of the school ...

Where have you been?

The school needs support for its extracurricular programs. It needs business partners to subsidize field trips like those in other high schools. It needs members for its PTA and School Advisory Council.

But these meetings are only packed when the naming issue arises. After that, people disappear.

If people would come to the school and meet the students, like we did recently, they would get an earful of common sense.

During an hour-long discussion, 21 ambitious students from 10th to 12th grade talked about the realities of attending a school with a "double-F" stigma. It isn't easy.

They have the same dreams as everyone else.

They talked about the hard work that it takes to go to school while juggling a job and extracurricular activities. They talked about hustling, about being persistent to get attention from overworked guidance counselors.

Some of their friends have left Forrest for Mandarin High School. They understand, but still care deeply about Forrest.

The high-stakes testing culture, they all agreed, is out of control. Tests on top of tests to the point that school is often drudgery.

They respect teachers who care about them, who won't give up trying to motivate them, who work extra hours and show they care. And they notice when certain teachers seem to be racing to get out of school.

There's a feeling that they're invisible to many adults until that name-changing controversy comes up again.

But the students get it. They know what really matters. Examples:

- Sabrina Lampp is a senior and active in the school band. She would like to be a veterinarian or a marine biologist some day.

- Jamal Freeman is a senior and a football player who would like to be an FBI agent someday.

This name-changing controversy will be settled soon.

In the meantime, you're missing some great youngsters.

One hour a week to be a mentor.

Some time and money to be a business partner.

Sharing your expertise for the various school clubs and projects.

It's a shame that so many adults talk a big game, but don't show up when it really matters.

By the way:

- When it came time to rearrange the chairs and tables from the meeting, the students just did it. They didn't need to be asked or told what to do.

- Two photos are used today for illustrative purposes, but any of the 21 students could have been.

What should happen to Forrest High’s name?

The School Board’s meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of the School Administration Building at 1701 Prudential Drive.

The board will vote on whether to accept the April 2007 recommendation of Forrest’s School Advisory Council to change the school’s name to Firestone High, after the street where the school is located. Board member Kris Barnes wrote the agenda item and is recommending the board reject the name change.

What decision do you think the School Board should make tonight, and why?

This entry was posted on Monday, November 3rd, 2008 at 3:46 pm

Sunday, February 28, 1999 Story last updated at 11:37 p.m. on Saturday, February 27, 1999 Decision on Forrest better left to the kids   A modest proposal. Recurring controversy over Nathan Bedford Forrest High School is recurring. Persuasive arguments again insist the name be changed. A counter view again suggests historical revisionism is at play. Many others, as usual, have no strong feeling. For 40 years the school has been named for Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest with no perceptible cosmic disarray. Yet the name has caused an undercurrent of rancor that has developed a life of its own. The cry is being renewed that the name be changed, on the ground that Forrest was a racist and founder of the Ku Klux Klan. No such controversy was foreseen when the school was named. Indeed, Forrest was a compromise, rather far down the list. In 1959, Gen. Forrest was recalled as the most dashing of Confederate leaders. A prevailing view was that the school should be named for a Southern leader - especially as its students would be drawn from Robert E. Lee High, where Dixie still was played at football games. In years to come Forrest would be broad-brushed as a father of the Ku Klux Klan, caricatured as ignorant and reviled for the Fort Pillow massacre of African-American soldiers. But others could counter Forrest was indeed a brilliant general, the only general on either side in the Civil War to be elevated from private; that Forrest's Klan differed from its later namesake, that the general was exonerated of the massacre charge. The divergence of opinion suggests both sides might benefit from a more thorough examination of the man and the times. Did he really say: ''Git there fustest with the mostest,'' as detractors say. Or ''Get there first with the most men,'' as the encyclopedia says? But I digress. Here's the story. Blame it on Tony Curtis. Tony Curtis was in a a very popular movie called The Viking when it came time to name the new high school. The school with no name also was having its first football practice. The coaches let about 100 candidates for the football team pick a team nickname. The players picked ''Vikings.'' The coaches bought equipment with a Viking insignia. The student body convened in September. After what was described as a spirited three-hour meeting they voted to name the school Valhalla. Valhalla High School. Goes with Vikings. If students had their way, Nathan Bedford Forrest High would be named Valhalla High. Valhalla, if you did not see the movie, was the hall of Odin, principal Viking god. Vikings slain in battle were taken to Valhalla, where each morning they rode out of 590 gates, returning at dusk to feast in the hall. Right. Like people who would name a school for Nathan Bedford Forrest would name a school Valhalla. The Martha Reid Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy suggested the school be named for a Southern leader. Forrest's name was mentioned but not endorsed. The Dads' Club voted to name the school Wesconnett. Runnerup was Leif Erickson High. (Remember, they already had the Viking football stuff.) School Board member Charles Johnson nominated Valhalla. It died without a second. Johnson then offered Forrest. Two members voted for it, two against. Board member Gene Stokes suggested ''Westmoya.'' The school was at Wesconnett Boulevard and LaMoya Avenue. The board reconsidered Forrest. The four members present - Chairman Raymond David, Martinez Baker, Johnson and Stokes - approved Forrest. Forrest High School moved to a new location 10 years later. The original Forrest became J.E.B. Stuart Junior High, continuing the Westside Confederate motif. Six years later William E. Raines High took the nickname Vikings, although history reveals even fewer African-American Vikings than Norsemen who looked like Tony Curtis. (Allow me to say I have no problem with the name Vikings, although in real life they repeatedly savaged the coast whence my grandparents came.) My proposal is this: Let the kids decide.

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