{552'} If? @Ega ?xer aka 53E gage ?ram a? game SENATOR RODNEY ELLIS COMMITTEES: District 13 Vice-Chair, State Affairs PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE Business Commerce 1999 2000 Transportation June 24, 2015 The Honorable Rhonda Skillern-Jones Chair, Houston ISD Board of Education 4400 West 18th Street Houston, TX 77092 Dear Chairwoman Skillern-J ones: This week, we have witnessed a nationwide uproar regarding the continued government support and endorsement of Confederate symbols. Their presence on the South Carolina Capitol grounds, Mississippi state ?ag, Virginia license plates, countless street names, and elsewhere has resulted in much-needed conversations about the appropriateness of sanctioning painful symbols of slavery and racism. These are longstanding debates that were again brought to the forefront of our national consciousness days after a white supremacist who proudly waved the Confederate battle ?ag brutally murdered nine Charleston parishioners solely due to the color of their skin. As the nation collectively reexamines vestiges of a discriminatory past, I turn my eyes closer to home. By my count, at least six schools in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) are named after men whose notoriety stems from their fealty to the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, an insurrection aimed at preserving the institution of slavery. When we name a school after someone, we send a message to our children that this individual is worthy of honor and praise. It serves as a community-wide endorsement of the person as a role model for our children to strive to embody through educational achievement. The time has come for a change. I ask that the Board put in place a process to review and consider renaming HISD schools named after Confederate loyalists. Remembering our past is important, especially if you want to avoid making the same mistakes. But we can teach our students about the evils of the past without endorsing the actions of those who fought to uphold them. When we honor hate at our schools, we teach hate to our children. For a large portion of HISD students, the Confederacy is a past that would have prevented them from ever attending school and made them subordinate to fellow students. Many of them would have lived in chains and been sold like chattel had the namesakes of their school been successful in the cause they espoused. Given that the Confederacy was in the words of Texas' February 1861 of?cial declaration of secession "established exclusively by the white race, for themselves and their posterity," it is illuminating to see the current demographic makeup of the schools that bear Confederate names: Lyric Centre PO. Box 12068 2440 Texas Parkway, Suite 110 440 Louisiana, Suite 575 Austin, Texas 78711 Missouri City, Texas 77489 Houston, Texas 77002 (512) 463-0113 (281) 261-2360 (713) 236-0306 FAX: (512) 463-0006 FAX: (281) 261 -4726 FAX: (713) 236-0604 Dial 711 For Relay Calls E-Mail: Dowling Middle School is named after Richard Dowling, a Confederate army of?cer. According to the most recent data from the 2013-14 school year, the school is now 57.7 percent Hispanic, 40.3 percent African American, 0.4 percent Asian, and 1.1 percent white. Jackson Middle School is named after Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, a brigadier general in the Confederate army. The school is now 87.6 percent Hispanic, 10.7 percent African American, 0.1 percent Asian, and 1.2 percent white. Johnston Middle School is named after Albert Sidney Johnston, a general in the Confederate army. The school is now 49.3 percent Hispanic, 32.9 percent African American, 3.3 percent Asian, and 12.5 percent white. Davis High School is named after Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America. The school is now 88 percent Hispanic, 10.8 percent African American, 0.1 percent Asian, and 0.9 percent white. Lee High School, which has notably stopped using the ?Robert portion of the school's original name, is named after the commander of the Confederate army. The school is now 71.6 percent Hispanic, 15.7 percent African American, 7.8 percent Asian, and 3.7 percent white. Reagan High School is named after John H. Reagan, postmaster general and secretary of the treasury of the Confederacy. The school is now 83.3 percent Hispanic, 8.6 percent African American, 0.5 percent Asian, and 4 percent white. As an extremely diverse school district in the most diverse city in the nation, the names of our community schools should not lionize men who dedicated themselves to maintaining the ability of one human to own another. I hope that the Board will use this unique opportunity to move the district in a new direction and away from a discriminatory past by creating a process to review and consider renaming schools named after Confederate stalwarts. Sincerely, ML, Rodney Ellis HISD Board of Education Dr. Terry Grier, Superintendent