Schools named after George Washington and Francis Scott Key should be rebranded because those American icons were slave owners, the president of the San Francisco Board of Education says.
"Most of our schools are going to be fine with the names that they have but there are a handful of schools where at least the question should be brought up," Matt Haney told the San Francisco Examiner.
"I don't think the goal is to condemn people who died a long time ago. The question is whether there might be a more appropriate, meaningful name."
George Washington High School, named in 1936 after the nation's first president, and Francis Scott Key Elementary School, named in 1938 after the composer of "The Star-Spangled Banner," are among several schools named after deceased white men with "problematic" histories, Haney said.
The Examiner says Haney's goal is for the San Francisco Unified School District to name more schools after people of color, women and LGBT figures.
But Dave Huber — assistant editor of the The College Fix, a website that reports on news from U.S. universities — asked in an opinion piece, "Where does this 'appellation reapplication' end? Will those for whom schools are renamed have their lives duly scrutinized for any sort of moral failing?"
"The Star-Spangled Banner" has been in the news in recent weeks after San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand during its playing to protest "a country that oppresses black people and people of color."
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