By George Copeland Jr., NNPA News Service

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – The fate of a federal lawsuit brought by the Hanover County Branch NAACP in a bid to force the Hanover County School Board to rename two schools currently named for Confederate leaders could be decided on Jan. 14.
That’s when U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Payne will hear arguments on the School Board’s request to dismiss the NAACP’s suit seeking a court order requiring new names for Lee-Davis
High School and Stonewall Jackson Middle School.
Judge Payne, who will hear the case at the courthouse in Downtown
Richmond, Va., has already expressed concerns about the suit that he
wants attorneys for the Hanover NAACP to address.
In a preliminary order, he directed those attorneys to show that this is a genuine dispute over which the branch is entitled to sue. Judge Payne also ordered the NAACP lawyers to identify any cases that support its arguments or to show that their argument is based “on the extension of existing legal principles.”
The lawsuit was launched on Aug. 16 by the Hanover NAACP led by
President Robert N. Barnette Jr., who also is president of the Virginia
State Conference of the NAACP.
The suit aims to “eradicate the vestiges of a shameful, racist educational system in Hanover County that forces African-American students to champion a legacy of segregation and oppression”
by attending schools named for rebels who fought to maintain slavery.
The lawsuit argues that the names contribute to a “hostile and
discriminatory environment for African-American students” enrolled at the
schools.
The suit cites incidents of racial harassment against African-American
students on the part of staff and other students.The main argument,
though, is that the Hanover County School Board is violating the First and
14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution by forcing African- American
students to attend schools with such names.
The lawsuit argues that this amounts to government-compelled speech in an “unequal learning environment” and that African-American students are harmed by being forced to experience such speech in everything from school sporting events to graduation ceremonies.
Lee-Davis, named for Confederate General Robert E. Lee and Confederate President Jefferson Davis, opened in 1958, and Stonewall Jackson opened in 1969 at a time of heightened racial conflict in a county that was one of the last in Virginia to desegregate its public schools.
When the lawsuit was launched, Barnette urged the School Board to come up with a resolution to avoid the cost of a lawsuit. The board, though, has declined and decided just before Thanksgiving
not to change the names.
“The board is not taking any action on this item,” School Board Chairman
Roger Bourassa announced on Nov. 22 following a closed-door discuss
ion. Like most governmental entities, the School Board did not comment
on pending litigation. In statements made before the Nov. 22 decision,
Bourassa said that Lee-Davis High and Stonewall Jackson Middle School eventually would be rebuilt and renamed, in order to comply with current School Board policy that bars any school in the
county from being named after a person, living or dead.
Barnette questioned the board’s choice to “continue to spend thousands
of dollars on a lawsuit” rather than take the initiative to change the school
names and forego expensive litigation, particularly in light of Bourassa’s
statement.
Barnette said, “I guess you could say the ball is in their court.”