Lawsuit challenges schools named after Confederate leaders

RICHMOND, Va. – A local chapter of the NAACP is suing a Virginia county in an effort to change the names of schools named in honour of Confederate leaders.

The Hanover County chapter of the NAACP said Friday that it was filing a federal lawsuit challenging the school names on constitutional grounds.

The group says the county is forcing black students to attend schools that venerate Confederate imagery in violation of both the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The lawsuit said the county is compelling speech in support of “a legacy of segregation and oppression.”

The Hanover Board of Supervisors recently ousted a school board member who voted to change the names of Lee-Davis High School and Stonewall Jackson Middle School.

A county spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit.