Mississippi School Once Named For Confederacy Renamed After Barack Obama
Jefferson Davis Elementary will be henceforth known as Barack Obama Elementary.
For decades, an elementary school in Mississippi has carried the name Davis Elementary, after the president of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis.
The school serves a 98 percent black student population and parents decided it was time for a name change.
Parents proposed that rather than keep a name that honors the Confederacy, the school should be renamed Barack Obama Elementary School.
The name change was made possible in part because school board decided that school PTAs and the community could rename any schools that are named after leaders of the Confederacy.
Several names were considered, but the school community voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama Elementary.
“The school community wanted to rename the campus to reflect a person who fully represents ideals and public stances consistent with what we want our children to believe about themselves,” PTA President Janelle Jefferson told the school board earlier this week.
