Monticello name change demonstrates reverse psychology

I applaud our noble leaders for the courage to look at the results of a survey on changing the name of Monticello Middle School and select the choice to scrap the name that earned only 35% percent support from those who responded.

We all know that the tradition of democracy is about leadership asking society a question, getting an answer, then saying "nah" and doing what they want anyway. I am also confident that they had a long and nuanced conversation, including students and parents, about President Jefferson, Monticello, and the full scope of his life's work, such as the fact that his approval of the Louisiana Purchase more than doubled the size of the United States by adding lands that today contain or are part of 15 states. 

In their rollout of this initiative, [CH-UH school district] Superintendent Kirby and [educational consultant] Gregory Hutchings emphasized the painful legacy of Jefferson's holding of slaves as the impetus for [asking] this question. Only 43% of respondents who identified as Black Americans opted to support the name change, with 37% opposing it and almost 20% stating they were neutral. Among the small pool (10) of Hispanic respondents, there was 60% opposition, and the survey did not bother to give the option to identify as Asian or multiracial. 

But if the district thinks this is a clear enough mandate, let's not stop there:

• Rename Cumberland Road and Cumberland Pool. We can't have them named after Prince William of Cumberland, Duke of Cumberland, "Butcher of Culloden" who slaughtered Jacobite Scottish rebels there in 1746.
• Rename Fairfax Elementary School and Fairfax Road. We can't have those named after Lord Thomas Fairfax, a contemporary of Jefferson's and prominent Virginia slave owner.
• Rename Lee Road and the Lee Road Library. I don't know whether they were named after Robert E. Lee, but why should that make a difference?
• Rename Roxboro Middle and Elementary schools, because of the 1925 lynching of Edward "Red" Roach in Roxboro, N.C.
  
  

Look, I get it. Some people think this is a distraction. People might ask why the Parma School District has better report card rankings than the CH-UH district, even though Parma spends $15,494/pupil and CH-UH spends $20,734/pupil.

People want to send their kids to school to get an education. The longer we stay busy renaming stuff, maybe they'll start to think that's what the CH-UH school district actually does.