Jacksonville, FL – With more than 50 activists and community members present, the Duval County School Board voted unanimously, Dec. 16, to change the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest High School. The historic vote by the school board comes at the end of a six-month campaign by the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC) and other forces to drop the local high school's racist namesake.

“We have to change the name of this school because this city can no longer honor a slave trader, war criminal and grand wizard of the KKK,” said Richard Blake, a Teamster and member of the JPC who spoke at the school board meeting before the vote. “The heritage of Nathan B. Forrest is not our heritage – it is that of the oppressor.”

Superintendent Nikolai Vitti began the school board meeting by sharing the board's findings in polling the community about the name change. A poll conducted last week by the school board at Forrest High School found that about 64% of the student body favored changing the name. He then made a recommendation to the board to change the school's name, which was approved by every board member.

Paula D. Wright, one of the school board members who spoke out in support of the name change, said, “We talk about what's in a name. A name does matter because it can service the foundation of how we think of ourselves and how we move beyond the particular place we're in at the time.” She shared with the board and the audience her own story of attending school and receiving second-class treatment as an African American student. “This moves our entire city towards equality and justice.”

The campaign to rename Forrest High School drew hundreds of community activists together, who attended forums, gathered petitions and protested the school's racist name. More than 160,000 people signed an online petition at change.org started by Jacksonville community activist Omotayo Richmond. The JPC spent months gathering more than 2000 hand-written community surveys, which overwhelmingly showed support for changing the name. Supporters of the name change also brought their energy and arguments to several town hall forums called by the school board, which pressured the board into changing the name.

Forrest High School, named after the infamously racist slave trader and Confederate general Nathan B. Forrest, received its name in 1959. The United Daughters of the Confederacy chose the name as a stunt to protest the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, which desegregated all-white schools throughout the country. To advance their racist agenda, they ignored the students' vote to keep the school named Valhalla High School.

The name Nathan Bedford Forrest is a blunt reminder of racist hatred, violence and terror. Forrest was a brutal slave trader, ordered the infamous Fort Pillow Massacre, and led the KKK. At Fort Pillow, Forrest’s troops executed hundreds of captured and surrendering Union soldiers, most of whom were African American, which Forrest bragged about in his military dispatches. The Daughters of the Confederacy chose the name to intimidate courageous African American civil rights activists, many of them teenagers, struggling for freedom.

“Tonight was a historic blow to the racism of the Deep South,” said Fernando Figueroa, an activist with the JPC. “The neo-confederates who spoke in favor of Forrest saw the writing on the wall. We're building the freedom struggle in Jacksonville star by star.”

When Forrest High School opened in 1959, it was an all-white, segregated school. Today, 54% of the school's approximately 1800 students are African-American.

Jason Fischer, another school board member, concluded his remarks in support of the name change, saying, “We need to make today about honoring the future, which is our children.”

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Jacksonville, FL – About 30 residents of Jacksonville rallied and spoke out at a Duval County School Board meeting on Nov. 5 in favor of changing the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest High. Nathan Bedford Forrest was the first Imperial Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and members of the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC) have been gathering community support to change the name of the local high school named after this monster for some time.

Before the meeting of the school board, members of JPC held signs and rallied outside the building despite poor weather. Signs read “Change the name,” and “No KKK High School.” Activists were spirited as they talked to local media and chanted “What do we want – name change! When do we want it – now!” There was only one lonely person counter-protesting the rally and standing in favor of keeping the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest for the school.

When it came time for the school board to meet, activists filtered into the room and signed up for public comment. The vast majority of the public commentary section was filled with activists speaking in favor of changing the name. The few racists who spoke in favor of keeping the name were often laughed at. One person was escorted out of the room by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office for referring to black people with a racial slur.

Members of JPC spoke passionately about the need to fight the long standing racist name of the school, including Teamster member and community activist Dave Schneider, who urged the school board to “be on the right side of history and change the name.” Lance Stoll of the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition handed the school board well over 1000 surveys indicating the desire of the community to change the name of Nathan Bedford Forest High School. Opponents to changing the name brought a gold letter opener with Nathan Bedford Forrest's likeness and confederate Civil War medals from the 1800s as “supporting evidence” for their side of the story. Towards the end of the meeting, African American school board member Dr. Connie Hall read a request to “initiate the renaming of Nathan B. Forrest High School.”

The meeting ended with a resounding victory when the school board decided to call for a special meeting on Friday, Nov. 8, at 1:00 p.m. to move forward with a vote to change the name. Community organizers are optimistic about the outcome of that vote.

#JacksonvilleFL #KuKluxKlan #Antiracism #NathanBedfordForrestHigh