ZWF: When honoring the heritage is a mighty strong dog whistle
Zander's Weekend Facts #118: Sunday, May 12, 2024
Inside this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts, a Virginia school board votes to revive school names honoring Confederate leaders, and a look at what Zander’s been reading this past week. Plus, a compilation of the top headlines you need to know about from the last seven days.
Also, go listen to the latest episodes of the Zander’s Facts Podcast! Episode 137 features a preview of the NBA Playoffs with Zander’s Facts senior NBA analyst Hill Billy. Download the Zander’s Facts podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
Here are Zander’s Weekend Facts for Sunday, May 12, 2024:
A Virginia School board restores Confederate school names
On Thursday night, the Shenandoah County School Board in Virginia became the first in the nation to restore the names of schools that had previously been named after Confederate leaders Turner Ashby, Stonewall Jackson, and Robert E. Lee.
In the summer of 2020 at the height of the racial justice protests and Black Lives Matter movement that engulfed the U.S. after the murder of George Floyd, the school board changed the names of Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby-Lee Elementary School to Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School in what was at the time called a “Resolution condemning racism and affirming the division’s commitment to an inclusive school environment for all.” At least 35 schools were renamed across the country that had honored the Confederate States of America and its leaders.
The CSA, for those unaware or who simply need a refresher, was the government of 11 states that had seceded from the United States in 1860 and 1861, prompting the Civil War. As Britannica notes: “In the decades prior to 1860 there had been developing a steadily increasing bitterness between the Northern and Southern sections of the United States. … While many economic, social, and political factors would feed into this regional antagonism, the central issue dividing the North and the South was slavery.”
While several arguments are made as to why the South seceded from the union, there is no doubt about the role of slavery played. As the Library of Congress remembers: “When Abraham Lincoln, a known opponent of slavery, was elected president, the South Carolina legislature perceived a threat. Calling a state convention, the delegates voted to remove the state of South Carolina from the union known as the United States of America.” Indeed, in South Carolina’s own explanation of secession, the delegates note: “an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the Institution of slavery has led to a disregard of their obligations.”
But couldn’t it have been because of states’ rights, as some would like to point out? A PBS documentary on the causes of the Civil War does make light of this:
A key issue was states' rights.
The Southern states wanted to assert their authority over the federal government so they could abolish federal laws they didn't support, especially laws interfering with the South's right to keep slaves and take them wherever they wished.
So yeah, the Civil War was technically about states’ rights… a state’s right to allow slavery.
Back to Shenandoah County, this is not the first time since the name changes in 2020 that attempts were made to revert to the old names. In 2022, the school board deadlocked 3-3 on a vote to do just that. The second try this year succeeded, led by a local conservative group called The Coalition for Better Schools. That group wrote a letter to the school board calling on the old names to be revived, citing a very scientifically done survey - I’m sure - that cites the vast majority of respondents wanting to revive the names. (Not acknowledging how many people or who responded to the survey is never a good sign.) The letter also notes: “The community values the historical connections to both Turner Ashby and Robert E Lee as prominent Virginians and local heroes.”
Heroes? Individuals who led the charge of states who had seceded from the United States of America to attack the U.S. because of their worries over a state’s right to allow people to own slaves are heroes? (And just in case you forgot, it was Confederate troops who fired first to open the Civil War, so the term “the war of northern aggression” has no factual basis, just as a bit of a dog whistle for blatant racism.)
A more accurate description would come from one of the individuals who spoke up during the school board’s meeting Thursday night. Sarah Kohrs, co-leader of a group called Claim the Names that was against reversing the names of the schools, said: “The Civil War was fought around the ideal that not all men are created equal. When you hold up leaders who fought for that basic principle, you’re saying now, in 2024, that not all of us are created equal.”
It’s also important to note how exactly the names of Ashby, Jackson, and Lee got on the school buildings in the first place. It was also on the basis of saying that not all men were created equal. Shenandoah County didn’t decide in the immediate aftermath to name its schools after leaders of the Confederacy. Or 25 years after the end of the Civil War. Or 50 years after. It took the school board almost 100 years, a full century, to decide it was a good idea to name their high school after Stonewall Jackson. Perhaps not coincidentally, there was another brewing battle on the basis of race enveloping the country, and schools in particular, during this time.
As The Washington Post notes: “Schools across the country were renamed for Confederate leaders in the 1950s and 1960s as a response from White residents upset over the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, which mandated desegregation of public schools. Shenandoah’s Stonewall Jackson High, for example, was renamed in 1959 during the state’s opposition to integration.”
So it was a time when the county was undoubtedly opposed to ending segregation, as the research clearly finds evident, that they decided to honor a Confederate general by putting his name on a high school. Definitely no racial motivations there, right?
But of course, wouldn’t removing the names of Confederate leaders from these schools, and their statues, in effect, be erasing history? To that outlandish and practically nonsensical argument, I say, if that were the case, then why would the name Adolf Hitler be among the most common when you ask almost anyone to name a historical figure that immediately pops up in your head? If not having statues and schools named after you were an attempt to erase history, then surely no one would remember the leader of Nazi Germany, yes?
It’s now been almost three years since the monuments of Robert E. Lee and others were removed from Richmond, Virginia’s - the former capital of the Confederacy - Monument Avenue. Do we really think the people of Richmond have suddenly forgotten who Lee was and his memory is now lost history?
No, a statue, or a monument, or a namesake of a school is not exactly the only way to remember history. But they do act as a way to glorify certain aspects of history. Is it really in everyone’s best interests to glorify the days when the United States was split into two because some believed it was worth fighting a war to keep slavery in existence? And not just to glorify the time period, but to glorify the individuals who seceded from the union and proceeded to lose? Perhaps it is if you really do yearn for the days of the Confederacy, but that would say a whole lot about you, wouldn’t it?
And that’s why the Shenandoah County School Board’s decision last week was so exceptionally egregious. It was perhaps the most blatant, out-in-the-open, example of racism that can be found in the United States in 2024. The same ideologies that prompted images of the National Guard escorting black children to integrated schools surrounded by screaming white adults are alive and well in 2024. Only instead of using offensive terms like the n-word openly, they scream “my heritage” and assail the horrific evils of “Critical Race Theory” and “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.”
And this decision will undeniably embolden those seeking to make similar changes, perhaps prompting a mass reversal of school name changes in rural areas across the southern U.S. Is it any coincidence that 69% of Shenandoah County voters in 2020 voted for an extremely well-versed Civil War historian?
Gettysburg, what an unbelievable battle that was. The battle of Gettysburg. What an unbelievable. I mean, it was so much, and so interesting, and so vicious and horrible, and so beautiful in so many different ways—it represented such a big portion of the success of this country.
Gettysburg, wow—I go to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to look and to watch. And the statement of Robert E. Lee, who's no longer in favor—did you ever notice that? No longer in favor. 'Never fight uphill, me boys, never fight uphill.' They were fighting uphill, he said, 'Wow, that was a big mistake,' he lost his great general. And, uh, they were fighting. 'Never fight uphill, me boys,' but it was too late.
For more information on this week’s top story, here’s an article from the Associated Press - In reversal, Virginia school board votes to restore Confederate names to 2 schools
What Zander’s been reading
Three years ago, Saudi Arabia announced The Line, a 110-mile-long city widely seen as the most ambitious project of its kind. Now three years into the planning and beginning construction phases of the project, challenges keep mounting. Rising costs, lower population estimates, and architectural obstacles are making it seem like the project will continue living simply as a fantasy.
Check out this week’s featured article in the Wall Street Journal - World’s Biggest Construction Project Gets a Reality Check (Paywall) - (Apple News link - Free)
Zander’s Facts Sporting Club
Here are the top headlines from the sports world in the Sporting Club:
NBA Playoffs: Three games have been played in all four series in the Conference Semifinal round of the NBA Playoffs. In the Eastern Conference, the New York Knicks lead the Indiana Pacers 2-1 with game four taking place later today at 3:30 pm ET on ABC. The Boston Celtics currently hold a 2-1 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers, with game four airing tomorrow at 7:00 pm ET on TNT. Over in the West, the Minnesota Timberwolves lead the Denver Nuggets two games to one with game four taking place tonight at 8:00 pm ET on TNT. Game four in the Oklahoma City Thunder-Dallas Mavericks series takes place tomorrow at 9:30 pm ET on TNT, with the Mavericks currently leading 2-1 in the series.
NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: The second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs rolls on as the New York Rangers are one win away from the Eastern Conference Finals. The Rangers lead the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 in the series, with game five set for Monday at 7:00 pm ET on ESPN. Also in the East, the Florida Panthers lead the Boston Bruins 2-1, with game four taking place tonight at 6:30 pm ET on TBS. In the Western Conference, the Dallas Stars lead the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 in the series as game four is up next on Monday at 9:30 pm ET on ESPN. The Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers are tied up 1-1 in their series with game three taking place tonight at 9:30 pm ET on TBS.
NBA Awards: Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets won his third NBA Most Valuable Player award in four seasons this year. Jokic averaged just one assist per game shy of a triple-double this season while becoming just the second player in NBA history to have at least 2,000 points, 900 rebounds, and 700 assists in a season, joining Oscar Robertson in the 1961-62 season. The Minnesota Timberwolves’ Rudy Gobert won the Defensive Player of the Year award for the fourth time, tying the all-time record jointly held by Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace. Victor Wembenyama of the San Antonio Spurs took home the Rookie of the Year award, receiving every first-place vote.
WNBA Season Opener: The WNBA’s 2024 regular season is set to begin on Thursday, with a highly anticipated debut on tap for opening night. Caitlin Clark is set to make her WNBA regular season debut on Tuesday as the Indiana Fever visit the Connecticut Sun at 7:30 pm ET on ESPN2, ESPN+, and Disney+. The defending league champion Las Vegas Aces host the Phoenix Mercury later on Tuesday at 10:00 pm ET on the same television platforms. The league also announced last week that it will be funding full-time charter flights for each of its teams this season for the first time.
European Soccer Season Finale: The club soccer season in Europe’s top leagues is winding to a close, with three out of the top four leagues already having been decided. Bayer Leverkusen, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid have clinched the top spots in their domestic leagues, the German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and Spanish La Liga, respectively, with at least one week left in each of their seasons. England’s Premier League remains up for grabs with just two points currently separating Manchester City and Arsenal. The final games of the Premier League season will all be played next Sunday. Last week, Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid won their semifinal matches to advance to the final of the UEFA Champions League, which will be played on Saturday, June 1.
Rapid-fire Facts
These are top news headlines from the past week in rapid-fire fashion:
Trump Hush Money Trial: Week four of former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York featured a high-profile witness taking the stand. Adult film actress Stormy Daniels, whom Trump is accused of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment towards, detailed an encounter she had with Trump when the two had sex in a Lake Tahoe, Nevada hotel suite in 200-. Judge Juan Merchan also found Trump in contempt last week for violating a gag order for the 10th time, threatening jail time for any future violations. Next week, Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen is expected to testify, with the prosecution possibly resting their case by the end of the week.
Speaker of the House Vote: The House of Representatives avoided another search for a Speaker after rejecting a motion to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) last week. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed a motion to vacate the chair on Wednesday, receiving boos on the House floor from lawmakers. Greene’s motion was dismissed by a vote of 359-43, with the vast majority of Democrats joining all but 11 Republicans to keep Johnson in power. The vote came after the House passed a foreign aid package last month with bipartisan support, with Greene accusing the Speaker of “passing the Democrats' agenda.”
Israel-Hamas War: Israel launched an offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah last week, a move that has drawn rebuke from the United States. President Joe Biden threatened on Thursday that the U.S. would not supply Israel with more offensive military assistance if it goes through with the operation. The U.S. had already paused a shipment of large bombs to Israel over concerns about the offensive, believing it would cause significant civilian casualties. The Biden administration also claimed last week that it is likely that Israel violated international humanitarian law by using U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza.
TikTok Lawsuit: ByteDance, the Chinese owner of social media app TikTok, filed a lawsuit last week seeking to block a new law that would force the app to be sold or face a ban in the U.S. Congress and President Joe Biden passed a law last month that would force ByteDance to divest TikTok by January 19, 2025, or the U.S. government could cease operations of the app in the country. The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, argues that the law violates several sections of the Constitution, including free speech rights protected in the First Amendment.
Panera Lemonade: Panera Bread announced last week that it will be phasing out its controversial Charged Lemonade that has sparked several lawsuits. The highly caffeinated beverage resulted in at least two deaths last year. The lawsuits alleged that a large 30-ounce Charged Lemonade contained 390 milligrams of caffeine without ice. The Food and Drug Administration recommends healthy adults can safely consume 400 milligrams of caffeine per day.
Wrapping up the Facts
Before this edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts wraps up, here’s another reminder to check out the latest episodes of the Zander’s Facts podcast. Download and listen to the latest episode of the podcast, along with every episode of Zander’s Facts, wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also listen to every episode of the podcast on this very website. All Zander’s Facts podcast episodes are now available on zandersfacts.com under the “Zander’s Facts” tab for your enjoyment! That includes the next episode of the Zander’s Facts Podcast, which comes out this Wednesday!
That’s a wrap on this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts. The facts in print return next Sunday, May 19, 2024.
