The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today expressed support for a lawsuit by the Virginia NAACP against the Shenandoah County School Board after the board voted to restore Confederate names to two schools.
The NAACP lawsuit alleges that the school board violated the Constitution, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Educational Opportunity Act. Last month, the board reversed a 2020 decision by a previous board to rename two schools after Confederate generals.
In 2021, the schools were renamed from Stonewall Jackson High School to Mountain View, and Ashby-Lee Elementary School to Honey Run.
In 2022, CAIR applauded a vote not to change the names of two schools back to their previous, Confederate-inspired names. Earlier this year, CAIR decried the renewed efforts to restore the confederate names of the two schools.
On May 10, the new board voted to restore the confederate names.
“No minority student should be forced to attend a school named after a traitor who defended slavery and white supremacy,” said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. “We applaud the NAACP for bringing this suit and hope it is ultimately successful.”
Hooper said Washington, D.C., based CAIR has repeatedly called for the removal of Confederate names, holidays, flags, statues, and symbols nationwide.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com