A high school in Virginia named after Confederate General Robert E. Lee will be renamed after civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis

Robert E. Lee High School in Virginia will now be named John R. Lewis High School after the civil rights icon.
Lewis died from pancreatic cancer last week, but his name was on a shortlist of potential new names before his death.
There was a push to have the school be renamed to honor him after his death, WUSA9 reported.
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A Virginia high school named after Confederate General Robert E. Lee will soon be named after civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, who died last week from pancreatic cancer, according to a statement from the Fairfax County School Board.

Fairfax County school board members revealed the new name on Thursday, but according to WJLA, Lewis was on a shortlist to replace the high school's current name prior to his death.

"I was proud to recommend to the Board that we name our school after such a distinguished American. John R. Lewis High School is a name our students can be proud of and one we will celebrate," School Board Member Tamara Derenak Kaufax said in a statement sent to Business Insider.

IT'S OFFICIAL:

R̶o̶b̶e̶r̶t̶ ̶E̶.̶ ̶L̶e̶e̶ ̶H̶i̶g̶h̶ ̶S̶c̶h̶o̶o̶l̶
John R. Lewis High School
— Karl Frisch (@KarlFrischFCPS) July 23, 2020

The longtime Georgia Congressman died on Friday, several months after announcing his pancreatic cancer diagnosis. He was 80 years old.

WUSA reported that there was a push to name the school after Lewis to honor him posthumously.

"The Board heard from students, teachers and staff members, families, and the community about the old name," School Board Chair Ricardy Anderson said, according to WUSA. "It was important for us to be mindful of these comments and to select a name that reflected the diversity and multiculturalism that currently exists at the school and in our community. Rep. Lewis was a champion of the Civil Rights movement, and our Board strongly believes this is an appropriate tribute to an individual who is a true American hero. We will also honor his life's work by continuing to promote equity, justice, tolerance, and service in the work that we do."

Kaufax proposed the school drop Lee's name from the school in February because she didn't "feel that names surrounding the confederacy are names that align with our current values in our society and in our schools today," WJLA reported.

There have been calls all across the country to remove Confederate monuments and names as part of the Black Lives Matter movement that stemmed after the death of George Floyd, who died after a police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes in May.

The coronavirus pandemic pushed back the conversation on renaming the school until last month when the school board unanimously decided to change the name on June 23.

There were six potential names including Barack Obama, Mildred Loving, and Cesar Chaves.

A public hearing was held on Thursday so the public could weigh in on the name.

"To go from being named after Robert E. Lee to John Lewis, someone we all recognize as a civil rights hero, is something we hope to get done," Nathnael Alazar, a 2018 alumni of the school, said according to WJLA. "We've been fighting this name issue for a long time, so now that it's actually happening, hopefully, John Lewis is the new name."

The name will go into effect this upcoming school year.

"We are proud of John R. Lewis High School and we know that our students, parents, staff, and community will be, too. We believe that John Lewis' extraordinary life and advocacy for racial justice will serve as an inspiration to our students and community for generations to come," Kaufax said in the statement.

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