A judge last week ruled a lawsuit brought by Shenandoah County students and the NAACP against the school board over Confederate names can go forward. Now, some of the plaintiffs are speaking out. WMRA’s Bridget Manley reports.
Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Urbanski denied the school board’s petition to dismiss the case. The Rev. Cozy Bailey, president of the Virginia NAACP, was pleased.
BAILEY: So, really joyful, and affirmed in the decision that we made after visiting with the students out there especially. Even before we met with the families out there, we, the NAACP, followed what was happening. In our opinion, and I don’t want to overuse the word egregious, but what was going on out there was egregious.
The plaintiffs include five Shenandoah County students, two of whom spoke to WMRA about the judge’s decision under the condition of anonymity.
STUDENT 1: I feel like that just made us feel heard.
One student said she felt validated. Judge Urbanski said in his opinion that the plaintiffs had “plausibly alleged” that the school board’s decision to revert to the Confederate names conveyed a message of exclusion to Black students, thus damaging their educational experiences.
STUDENT 1: Originally, you know, they were saying, ‘hurt feelings don’t mean a trial,’ and, ‘don’t mean that something is wrong,’ but I think it’s much more than hurt feelings. It’s generations of trauma.
STUDENT B: Another part of why I feel that this is so important is because we are talking about the first school to ever do this throughout the whole country.
Even though they both graduate this year, the students feel their fight to restore the names will have a positive impact on future students who attend Shenandoah County schools, and will dissuade other systems from taking the same retroactive steps.
STUDENT B: I want nothing more than for this to not become a trend. I would not like to see this continue to happen all over the place, where people decide that it would be a good idea to turn back to what once was.
The school board's attorney, Jim Guynn, sent a statement to WMRA that read: “We will continue to zealously defend this case. We expect that once all of the facts are before the court—not just the allegations by the plaintiffs that Judge Urbanski was limited on the motion to dismiss—there will be a different outcome.”
The bench trial is set to begin June 30.
Learn more about the school board’s decision to revert the names and the history behind them here.
