Since we feel we have been maligned by your editorial in the May 6th News Leader, I want you and especially the community to know exactly who we are. I am representing the many individuals who have signed both the on-line and paper petitions to keep Robert E. Lee High School’s Name.
We are citizens of Staunton and Augusta County as well as many world-wide alumni not rabble-rousers. We are individuals who respect history and the continuity of the name of our high school, a school attended by our children, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins for over ninety years and, peacefully, by members of the black community for the last 50-plus years.
The name of our school has always been a source of pride for our close-knit community. Lee is a school that adults continue to support sometimes many years after graduating, by going to games and offering financial support.
It is beyond our comprehension that the new School Board would be so concerned over a name change upsetting thousands of citizens and alumni and costing many thousands of dollars when that money could be spent on improving the students’ educational experience and attending to other critical needs such as transportation improvements.
Lastly, not only do we claim to have over 5,000 signatures from a well-known petition platform, but our numbers are growing daily thanks to your editorial’s denigration of the feelings of many students, parents, and other citizens.
Julia Dutton Hopp
Staunton