Push to rename schools named for Confederate figures leads to some community tensions in Cobb County, Georgia (high school, program)

[Born 2 Roll]

Atlanta’s suburbs are seeing more minority representation on some suburban school boards as those suburbs continue to grow and become more diverse.

But even though some suburban Atlanta school boards may start to better resemble their districts’ increasingly diverse student populations, new tensions are arising over issues like the burgeoning movement that pushes to rename public schools named for Confederate and neo-Confederate figures in areas where racial and ethnic minorities make up a majority of student populations.

One example of this is in Cobb County, Georgia where some community members (including some students, parents, alumni and supporters) are pushing to rename Wheeler High School, which is named for Confederate General Joseph Wheeler.

Wheeler High School opened in 1965, in the year that the Cobb County School District was integrated.

When the school opened that year (1965) it had a student population that was 100% white.

Now Wheeler High School has a student body where racial and ethnic minorities make up about 74% of the student body.

Wheeler High School is also the site of a very highly regarded and nationally-acclaimed math/science/technology magnet program at The Center for Advanced Studies in Science, Math & Technology.

In Cobb County, about 63% of the students are non-white. That diversity isn’t quite reflected on the school board, which has three African American members and four white ones. Now, the board is confronted with social justice issues it hasn’t had to grapple with before.

For example, thousands of community members have petitioned the school district to rename some schools that glorify white supremacists. One is Wheeler High School, named after Confederate General Joseph Wheeler.

Push To Rename Some Cobb Schools Causes Conflict Between Board Members (WABE-FM 90.1 Atlanta)