That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, or so the Bard said as he put these words into the mouth of Romeo.
21st century update: That which we call a turd by any other name would stink like spoiled meat.
In Jacksonville, Florida, we are refighting the Civil War, sometimes known as the War Between the States, and by some on one side of the argument, the War of Northern Aggression Against the Southern States.
As a famous Miami Herald Columnist would say, Grumpy Old Teacher (GOT) is not making that up.
At issue is the renaming of six schools whose monikers match that of five Southern Generals for the Confederate Army, Robert E. Lee (1928), J.E.B. Stuart (circa 1965, the building began as Nathan Forrest High School), Kirby-Smith (1923), Joseph Finnegan (Confederate general who won the Battle of Olustee, opened 1968), and Stonewall Jackson (Google, you failed me, but the location makes GOT suspect the 1960s), as well as ol’ Jeff Davis himself, the president of the Confederacy (circa 1961).
The process kicked off last summer after the Black Lives Matters protests across the nation that caused many to consider the ways that racism and white CONTINUE READING: What’s in a Name? – Grumpy Old Teacher
