Abilene ISD Buries the Confederacy

 

ABILENE, TX — After Abilene ISD Board of Trustees member Billy Enriquez made an impassioned plea about “systemic racism” in Abilene during his motion to wipe the names of dead Confederates off four of Abilene ISD’s elementary schools, the board voted unanimously to do so Monday night, Sept. 14, 2020.

The board spent an hour discussing the decision to drop the names of three Confederate States Army generals and the Texan politician who was the Confederacy’s postmaster general.

Gone are:

Jackson Elementary School named after Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson. Major General Jackson earned his name during the first Battle of Manassas (Bull Run) when he rushed his troops forward in just the nick of time to close a gap in the Confederate lines. A fellow general quipped, “Look, men, there is Jackson standing like a stone wall!” From then on he was known as General “Stonewall” Jackson. Jackson was among General Robert E. Lee’s most able commanders. He died of injuries from taking friendly fire during the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863 at the age of 39.

Robert E. Lee Elementary will also be renamed. By the close of the Civil War, General Lee was the commander of the Confederate States Army and the Army of Northern Virginia.

Albert Sidney Johnston Elementary, to be renamed as well, was named in honor of General Johnston who was the Confederate States Army commander preceding Lee. Johnston was killed during the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862. But before Johnston served the CSA, he served as a general in the Texian Army during the Texas Independence War and the U.S. Army. After the Texas Independence, Johnston served as the Republic of Texas Secretary of War under Mirabeau Lamar, the second president of Texas.

John H. Reagan’s name will be removed from the final elementary school. Reagan, a Texan politician before the Civil War, became the Confederate States postmaster general. After the South surrendered, Reagan spent over two years in prison in solitary confinement near Boston for his leadership role in the Confederacy. While in confinement, Reagan foresaw what a calamity Reconstruction could become for Texas and wrote a heartfelt letter to his fellow Texans begging his fellow statesmen to abandon thoughts of resisting and to renounce succession and slavery. He was initially scapegoated for his letter. Later, however, as Texas leaders began to understand what they were up against, Reagan was hailed as a prophet and nicknamed “Old Roman” for his letter. After Reconstruction, Reagan served Texas in the U.S. Senate and was named the first chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission. He was also one of the founders of the Texas State Historical Association.

When making the motion to rename the schools, board member Enriquez claimed the names of the schools were “systemic racism” set in place by a long ago school board with no people of color elected to it. He noted that today, in 2020, 60 percent of the pupils in Abilene ISD are “of color.”

“When are we going to get teachers who look like us?,” Enriquez asked. “Or we not have enough (teachers of color) smart enough or qualified enough to do it?”

He claimed that last sentence of his statement was sarcastic.

Here is his entire statement:

“This is 2020 and (it took) 130 years to elect one Hispanic school board member. When the naming of the schools happened, there was no people of color on the board to have any input as to what those (school) names would be. I consider it a suppression just as I do the suppression I went through in the district.

“I don’t think we should have any difficulty in turning these schools around and putting names on them that we all know. We can’t erase the history, and my God, we got rid of Lincoln, but I can Google him on my phone, and it will tell me all about Lincoln. But the school is gone so does that mean we erased Lincoln from the history books? I don’t think so. We’re not going to erase Robert E. Lee. We’re not going to erase Johnston or any of the two (other schools). They’re still going to be there in the history books.

“But I don’t think it’s right that we have to put up with the same suppression we’ve put up with for 60 years every time we drive by those schools. That’s not right. And because of that, I’m saying that we need to vote on changing — that we’re going to change the names. (We’re not voting on) what we’re going to change the names to because that’s another process. And that’s what I was thinking we were doing today.

“You know in 135 years we’ve had six people of color on this board? What does that say about the school names? (The naming of those schools) runs concurrent with that. What do we call it? Systemic racism? That’s what that is. And I for one, it’s difficult for me to tolerate it. I can talk here, tell you my experiences in Abilene ISD, and they were not good, even though I had some very good (and) fantastic teachers. Mr. Lewis Duncan was a role model for me.

“Nevertheless, there was a lot of suppression and a lot of personal attacks on me as a young man. I’m 69 years old and it’s like it happened yesterday. If I wasn’t man enough, I’d cry just to show you how I feel inside. So, it’s not right. It’s absolutely not right to leave these schools the way they are. We need to have the courage to stand up and do what’s right. Now, we can discuss this stuff about who we’re going to name (these schools after) after we decide are we going to rename them,” Enriquez said in making the motion to remove the Confederate-associated names from the four elementary schools.

Board member Angie Wylie amended the motion to establish a timeline to rename the schools.

After the unanimous vote, Superintendent Dr. David Young said his administration plans to begin the renaming process on Oct. 1.

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I hope Mr. Enriquez realizes that Abilene will be doing nothing more than wasting a few million dollars changing the names and marketing itself as woke after this "historic vote." Think they'll stop here at changing names? Giving ground to these insane people because you think they'll stop at names is so naive and stupid. All the problems in Abilene, and show me evidence of 'systemic racism' in Abilene beyond the opinion of Enriquez regarding how long it was before a Hispanic was elected there. Billy Enriquez is a race-baiting baby and an opportunist fool. Abilene and its people were so racist they put him in a position in which he would spearhead a move to waste millions and effect exactly no change. Good job Abilene!!! Problem solved!!!

They are just names on a building. They are just statues. Cancelling them will not erase the memories, for any of us. For those of us reared in the South alongside battlefields, and with cities, lakes, rivers, streets, and courthouses named for our ancestors, there will be no cancelling. More soldiers from both sides died at Manassas than in all other wars of the US. No one can forget that; no one can fail to be moved. Dixie will not be driven down, as the Cher song goes. We used to say "Save your Dixie cups, the south will rise again." It already has, into a better place with the creativity and dignity of a multitude of people. However, the mourning for memories continues. The mourning for what was does not. My family farmed their own land or entered professions, back eight generations. We never owned slaves; we paid everyone who worked in the house or on the land with us-records available. Everyone was respected for the services they provided. There were more of our kind in this country then than slave-owners, and decrying slavery is not a one-kind-fits-all kind of situation. So don't tar all southerners with the same brush. Don't teach children that renaming cancels the acts of the past. A war is a war no matter why, and there are heroes and heroines. Mr. Enriquez appears to have no connection with the War of Secession; he does appear to have problems with White heroes in a war that President Lincoln did not really want. Maybe he should go down to San Antonio and help some people there cancel offensive names and monuments there. My Latina friend says the Alamo is a disgrace and an affront to Latinx everywhere in Texas!

"Maybe he should go down to San Antonio and help some people there cancel offensive names and monuments there." - lizbetigan

It still hasn't occurred to you that you, and your movement, could be the ones being cancelled - and that when the time comes, you will have no recourse or right to plea for mercy.

Your balance is due.

Since you want to make every thing about race maybe you need to rename these schools after the hero's of the battle of the Alamo. You know the ones on the Mexican side. Yea you can follow in George P. Bush's footsteps . He wants monuments placed at the Alamo for them. Lets all just stop and think about what is going on, and pray that since we are forgetting history we never repeat it.

Another bunch of politicians folding to the Marxists hell bent on destroying America. Destroy our heritage, remove all reminders of where we came from and create a Utopian socialist society where the elite get richer and the rest of us scramble for the crumbs. Of course then we gotta have a benevolent leader with an iron hand to take care of the "haters" that don't go along with their agenda.

the Washington DC monuments are on the list as well. Also their has been a lot of talk about Mount Rushmore.

Celebrating this kind of heritage is like the Mengele family celebrating a statue for his bravery and courage. Treachery and sedition should not be rewarded with anything but disdain.

You talking about the Democrat Bolsheviks, Marxists, and Leninists and Antifa communists trying to overthrow our govt?

is really stupid enough to believe that nonsense. You're just stirring up stuff.

If I'm wrong and you really are that stupid, I hope you have not produced offspring. If you have, I hope that chronic stupidity is not passed along genetically.

"Treachery and sedition should not be rewarded with anything but disdain." - Old Salt

True, but considering the side you're on, you're a masochist to admit it.

https://canadafreepress.com/article/marxist-subversion-of-american-society

https://spectator.org/four-stages-of-marxist-takeover-the-accuracy-of-yuri-bezmenov/

https://www.westernjournal.com/chinas-uighur-genocide-everything-need-know-ccps-human-rights-abuses/

https://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2020/09/china-tibet-and-the-uighurs-a-pattern-of-genocide/

No doubt Mengele would have swung Left, had he seen what they'd let him do.

For the sake of preserving history, your spouse should decorate your house with pictures of their former lovers, and even have their names tattooed on his/her body, so they don't forget and repeat their past mistakes!

I read the article you shared, but did not see any mention of political affiliation. What makes you think they're leftists? To me it was more reminiscent of our right wing, adulterous president, who's family unit includes sex workers and children from various mothers.

are we reporting abilene's news? That town is more dreadful than san angelo. Let them dig their own damn graves.

If any one related to a treacherous villain, fighting for the advancement of slavery, and fighting against the United States of America, wants to erect a statue of same on their private property, I say do it!

Been to it. I was "stupid" for a time, according to trump, and had the opportunity to go to the Seafair in Seattle many many times with the US Pacific Fleet. When the time comes to change the name of Vladimir Lenin Jr. High............

Name one: George Floyd Elementary

Name two: Richard Ramirez Elementary

Name three: Eric and/or Lyle Menendez Elementary

Name four can simply be a hybrid of the confusing and moronic numbering system of New York City public schools, and the name of one of the Left's most cherished groups of losers, "MS 13".

We went from treacherous RELee to china and russia. That's a long way do drive a dodge.

Just do a quick march, MAM.

Maybe it's easier for you to direct America's attention from our current enemies by concentrating on past enemies in their vicinity.

For the most part, we're not tolerating that crap in America.

MMcSR, Mon, 05/31/2021 - 16:41

Joe? Yantis? Trolling your own paper's comments, spreading lies under a fake name. Isn't that  a crime when this paper/ cat box liner, goes across state lines? I'm checking for you.

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