Nathan Bedford Forrest High featured on FoxNews.com

[David]

Apparently FoxNews is just now realizing this:

KKK Won't Go Away. Florida high school â€" where more than half the students are black â€" keeping KKK founder's name

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,448684,00.html

Florida high school named for a Confederate general who was also a leader of the Ku Klux Klan will be keeping its name â€" thanks to a vote of the county school board.

More than half the students at Nathan Bedford Forrest High School in Jacksonville, Fla., are black, and some members of the community object that they are forced to attend a school that was named in honor of a racist.

Nathan Bedford Forrest was a slave trader before the Civil War, a top-notch Confederate cavalry leader during the war, and the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan in Tennessee when it was over, according to University of North Carolina-Greensboro emeritus professor Allen Trelease, a Civil War scholar.

Forrest High got its name in 1959, when the Daughters of the Confederacy, angry about the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision forcing school integration, pushed for the name.

All 2,300 of the school's students were white at the time. Now, 54 percent are black, and some feel it's time to change the school's name.

On Nov. 3, the Duval County School Board voted 5 to 2 against changing the name. The five members who voted to keep the name were white. The two who voted against it were the board's only black members.

Changing the school's name was brought before the board in 2006, and the board put off a vote for almost two years, said Brenda Priestly Jackson, who voted "no" with board chairwoman Brenda Burney.

Jackson said was surprised to find the issue on the Nov. 3 agenda.

"I was actually in shock when I read the item," she told FOXNews.com. "We had three hours of public comment, and I kid you not, you would have thought you'd gone back to some other place and time."

Jackson called the discussion "revisionist history," and said that Forrest had been known in history for two things: "massacre and the KKK."

Those in favor of keeping the name said Forrest's history was debatable and his involvement with the KKK was minimal.

It was unknown "who the real Forrest is," said board member Tommy Hazouri, who voted to keep the name, the Associated Press reported.

Forrest led the Klan from 1867 to 1869. Some historians think Forrest was one of the Klan's founders.

Confederates, Trelease said, "worshiped him as a hero."

In 1999 the school board voted to keep the school's name after its basketball coach said it was oppressive to the school's diverse students, the Florida Times Union reported.

One member of the community who was happy to see the board stick with Forrest was Billy Parker, the school's first principal.

"I am thrilled to death that the school board voted it down to leave it Nathan Bedford Forrest," said Parker, who served on the county school board for 20 years.

"The thing about it is, Forrest, at the time he was alive, slavery was the thing to do and he was involved in it at the very beginning," he said. "But when the war ended he was one of the strongest ones to do away with slavery, and they never mention that and the fact that he was a good man."

But Priestly says the community needs to revisit the issue. She said if more people had come to speak out, changing the name would have been a "no-brainer."

"I have had citizens in the city who are African-American and white in the city who are appalled at the vote," Johnson said.

"The sad irony for me was that here [we are] on the eve of one of the most pivotal elections in our country in which we had an African-American and a woman on different tickets… and we're sitting here for six hours talking about whether or not we would keep the name of the former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan on the school," Johnson said.

[jandar]

Just FoxNews trying to stir up racial issues (sad to say).


He was not convicted of the Fort Pillow Massacre, and his involvement with the KKK was seen by a congressional hearing to be nothing further than to try to disband them.

He lead many black confederate soldiers and even acknowledged them as amongst the best he ever lead.

The Fort Pillow Massacre is severely disputed. Soldiers on both sides say that a massacre happened, as well as others on both sides saying the the surrender signal was never given.

This was disputed by Lt Daniel Van Horn of the 6th U. S. Heavy Artillery (Colored) who stated in his official report "There never was a surrender of the fort, both officers and men declaring they never would surrender or ask for quarter."

So he remains a man of mystery, no one knows the real Forrest.

[David]

I remember hearing the history of his name is questionable. Regardless, it doesn't paint Jacksonville in a good light.

But hey, at least we're not Baker county with klansman painted on a mural!

[Coolyfett]

Forrest grad c/o 98  ....my take on it was they should have changed the name. Firestone High School was what the name change was to be.

I have the same opinion for Lee High School, JEB Stuart Middle, & Jeff Davis Middle, those D.O.C. had an agenda. An agenda for revenge. That is history that I never knew until reading this article. But whatever...maybe the black students should protest or enroll at Ed White High or Orange Park High.

*Eyes roll*

[Ocklawaha]

The Fort Pillow Massacre is severely disputed. Soldiers on both sides say that a massacre happened, as well as others on both sides saying the the surrender signal was never given.


Quote
This was disputed by Lt Daniel Van Horn of the 6th U. S. Heavy Artillery (Colored) who stated in his official report "There never was a surrender of the fort, both officers and men declaring they never would surrender or ask for quarter."

So he remains a man of mystery, no one knows the real Forrest.

This is an era about CHANGE, Forrest was one of those very first men of the South to change his ways completely after the war. His address in Memphis to his "brothers and sister Americans" was made to an all black audience a group that would go on to be called the NAACP. Forrest was there for them at the very start saying lets bury the past and work toward unity - community etc...

Fort Pillow is well doccumented and historians on both sides seem to know what reall happened. First the terrain was horrid for a battle, with deep pits or natural trenches hiding enemys just 20 feet away. It was impossible for commanders on either side to control anything. The Confederates did offer a surrender to the trapped federals and we're met with a "GO TO HELL" message. Meanwhile a (never mentioned) federal Iron Clad gun ship pulled up near the river to take on the fleeing FEDERALS. Many drowned, as the gun boat opened up on the Confederates, the Confederates answered and drove it off. So even if the last federals would have surrendered, their Navy broke that trust by opening fire on a surrendered fort.  Try that today with the war on terror - Surrender your fort and your terrorists, then watch what happens when other terrorists attack from the rear - SLAUGHTER.

Remember history is told by the victors.

BTW Mr. Parker, CHERYL and I both say HEY MAN! LOVE YOU!

OCKLAWAHA

[RiversideGator]

Forrest grad c/o 98  ....my take on it was they should have changed the name. Firestone High School was what the name change was to be.

I have the same opinion for Lee High School, JEB Stuart Middle, & Jeff Davis Middle, those D.O.C. had an agenda. An agenda for revenge. That is history that I never knew until reading this article. But whatever...maybe the black students should protest or enroll at Ed White High or Orange Park High.

*Eyes roll*

Lee HS was named in the 1920s long before the civil rights era.  There was no racist motivation there.  There is also NO evidence that naming the high school for Forrest was based on resistance to Brown or racism.  It just isnt supported by any documentary evidence.  The reality is Jacksonville has been a Deep South city for many many years and as such has a long history of celebrating the Confederate heroes of our region.  Nothing wrong with that.

[RiversideGator]

Remember history is told by the victors.
OCKLAWAHA

Deo Vindice!

[uptowngirl]

When these mascots and football, and baseball teams (professional and college) change their freaking names/looks then we can talk about changing the names of schools. Native Americans have been spoofed (and continue to be) for ever. I am a little sick and tired of the double standard and whining. History is history, why should we forget our history? Why do we add additional names to freaking streets and roads? Who freaking cares? This is an open school system go to a different school if you really can't stand the name! 

[copperfiend]

I am a Forrest grad as well. When I was a student, the name change was talked about but most students were not bothered by it. One thing everybody agreed on was that the school was a dump and still is. How many straight "F" ratings has it gotten? Perhaps the folks who spent their time worrying about the name change should worry about the young minds being educated at the school.

[jandar]

When these mascots and football, and baseball teams (professional and college) change their freaking names/looks then we can talk about changing the names of schools. Native Americans have been spoofed (and continue to be) for ever. I am a little sick and tired of the double standard and whining. History is history, why should we forget our history? Why do we add additional names to freaking streets and roads? Who freaking cares? This is an open school system go to a different school if you really can't stand the name! 

Most Colleges changed their mascots due to the NCAA, save for FSU which had the blessings of the Florida Seminole Tribe. (who participate in making sure that Chief Osceola is in traditional garb)
Of course, the Oklahoma Sooners kept their name as well, when Sooners were scoping land out for claims when the Native Americans were removed. (look up sooner clause, but I digress)





High Schools on the other hand.....

[TheProfessor]

I think we can hide behind history all we want.  The fact is Forrest started the KKK and it stands for something bad.  Regardless of what good Forrest has done, his name stands for something bad, locally and nationally and therefore we as a society should not celebrate what his name stands for by using it on an educational facility.  Granted I know the community should focus on improving the "F" status of the school, but I think renaming and rebranding a school with those who who utilize the shool can give the current students a sense of ownership instead of being owned by the past.

[copperfiend]

The biggest reason if there were a name change, I think it would be justified is this.

Forrest High got its name in 1959, when the Daughters of the Confederacy, angry about the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision forcing school integration, pushed for the name.

All 2,300 of the school's students were white at the time. Now, 54 percent are black, and some feel it's time to change the school's name.

[Ocklawaha]

Most Colleges changed their mascots due to the NCAA, save for FSU which had the blessings of the Florida Seminole Tribe. (who participate in making sure that Chief Osceola is in traditional garb)
Of course, the Oklahoma Sooners kept their name as well, when Sooners were scoping land out for claims when the Native Americans were removed. (look up sooner clause, but I digress

As a student at OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY,  I must add that the Sooners were Illegal claim jumpers, yes the team is named for OUTLAWS. A "Sooner" was someone that got past the Federal Army line and into the land that would be opened with a land run.

The story goes that the US Cavalry came upon a cabin where they were already harvesting tomatos, the "Sooner" had an excuse.

"How long have you been here?" demanded the Calvary leader (the punishment was instant death).

"Oh Damn, this is the richest land in the world, we just planted these yesterday and look what has happened!" said the Sooner.  (history is silent on the result).

So who were the Sooners?

CRIMINALS

every last one of them. With a death sentence over their heads!

VIVA OSU

O C K L A W A H A

[uptowngirl]

The biggest reason if there were a name change, I think it would be justified is this.

Forrest High got its name in 1959, when the Daughters of the Confederacy, angry about the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision forcing school integration, pushed for the name.

All 2,300 of the school's students were white at the time. Now, 54 percent are black, and some feel it's time to change the school's name.

Ok so change it, but then they better go from an "F" to at least a "B" if the name is what is jacking them all up.....

[TheProfessor]

I think we can hide behind history all we want.  The fact is Forrest started the KKK and it stands for something bad.  Regardless of what good Forrest has done, his name stands for something bad, locally and nationally and therefore we as a society should not celebrate what his name stands for by using it on an educational facility.  Granted I know the community should focus on improving the "F" status of the school, but I think renaming and rebranding a school with those who who utilize the shool can give the current students a sense of ownership instead of being owned by the past.