It's not just about whether a flag harbors racism. All these public schools are named after notorious racists: Klan leaders, Confederate generals, the list goes on.

The Confederate flag isn't the only controversial symbol of the South's history. State and public buildings, including schools, are named after historical figures associated with the Ku Klux Klan.

Here are some examples within the past year - a few schools finally decided it was time to break off association with notorious icons of the past:

  • The Nathan B. Forrest High School in Jacksonville, Florida, became Westside High School in 2014. Nathan B. Forrest was a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army and first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. 
  • Aycock Hall at Duke University was named after former North Carolina Gov. Charles Aycock, an avowed white supremacist, was also renamed East Residence Hall in 2014.
  • This move prompted East Carolina University to rename its own Aycock Hall as Heritage Hall in 2015.
  • In May of 2015, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill changed Saunders Hall to Carolina Hall to shed its association with Klan leader William Saunders.

However, in the year 2015, Mother Jones reports there are public schools nationwide that still bear the names of long-dead champions of a white-supremacist state.

Here's a map of 60 schools - both public and private - that just recently changed their names:

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ora Media, LLC its affiliates, or its employees.

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