MISSISSIPPI: School Named For Confederate President Jefferson Davis To Be Renamed For President Obama

The Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports:

A predominately black public school in Mississippi named after Jefferson Davis will have its Confederate tied namesake stripped next year and replaced with the title of another president whose character students, parents and teachers have said is more fitting— Barack Obama.

Davis Magnet IB PTA President Janelle Jefferson announced at the Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday evening that school stakeholders voted on Oct. 5 to rename the school Barack Obama Magnet IB.

“Jefferson Davis, although infamous in his own right, would probably not be too happy about a diverse school promoting the education of the very individuals he fought to keep enslaved being named after him,” she told the board. A demographic breakdown of Davis Magnet’s enrollment for the 2017 school lists 98 percent of the school’s students as black. Overall, JPS’ enrollment is 97 percent black.

RELATED: In Florida I attended Stonewall Jackson Junior High. Some time ago they dropped the “Stonewall.” Not good enough.