Eagle Pass Independent School District Board of Trustees Seek Community Survey on Renaming Robert E. Lee Elementary
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2020
The Eagle Pass Independent School District (EPISD) Board of Trustees discussed with legal counsel in Executive Session their authority to rename Robert E. Lee Elementary at their Tuesday, June 23, 2020, regular meeting and later came out in Open Session with an Agenda Item calling for the renaming of Robert E. Lee Elementary but instead approved to request Superintendent Samuel Mijares conduct a community survey concerning the renaming of the local elementary school named after Confederate General Commander Robert E. Lee, who supported slavery and racism and committed treason against the United States.
EPISD Board President Jorge Barrera stated that two years ago when he first joined the Board he had approached the District Superintendent about renaming Robert E. Lee Elementary because it is named after “someone who went against the ideals of the United States at that time. He did have a choice to go either United States or Confederacy. The Confederacy was just to go against the ideals of the United States.” Barrera added that the Confederacy supported slavery. Barrera noted that a school should not be named after someone who went against the ideals of the United States and that he supports a name change of the local elementary school.
Board President Barrera stated: “I like to make a motion to allow the Superintendent to do some sort of a survey to ask the community to see what they think about renaming the school,” which was seconded by Board of Trustee Dr. Hector Alvarez, Jr. The motion was approved unanimously to seek a community survey.
Superintendent Mijares stated: “we will find a way for the community to get involved in the survey so that this will be a simple survey, a simple yes or no. We will take that survey and do what the Board decides after we get those results.” The survey results will be presented to the Board.
Board member Dr. Alvarez stated that he “really admires the Board President for bringing this up and in the way he did because we are the voice of our district, the voice of our students, our staff, teachers…”
Unlike the El Paso Independent School District Board of Trustees who took swift action to approve the renaming of their Robert E. Lee Elementary School on June 16, 2020, the Eagle Pass Independent School District Board of Trustees chose to conduct a community survey on how they feel about renaming Robert E. Lee Elementary School. The El Paso Independent School District Board of Trustees are asking their community for name suggestions on what the elementary school should be renamed.
As of press time, Superintendent Mijares has not yet published the community survey approved by the Eagle Pass Independent School District Board of Trustees. It is expected to be published in the near future.
Confederate General Robert E. Lee graduated from the U.S. Military Academy (West Point) and served in the United States Army before choosing to command the Confederate States of America Army. General Lee fought in the United States-Mexico War of 1846-1848 on behalf of the United States Army and later served as the Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy (West Point) before deciding to commit treason against the United States by choosing to fight against the United States in the Civil War of 1861-1865. General Lee and the Confederate Army lost to the United States in the Civil War, which caused the death of over 600,000 men and women. General Lee was a slave owner, too.
In a recent Opinion in the Washington Post, dated June 7, 2020, Robert W. Lee, IV, a descendant of Robert E. Lee, wrote that the Civil War “was fought for states’ rights to enslave African people in the United States of America’ and that the statute of his ancestor, General Robert E. Lee, in Richmond, Virginia should be removed as a symbol of white supremacy and racism.
Robert W. Lee, IV, stated “I am fully aware that the broken, racist system we have built on the Lost Cause is far larger than a single statute, but the statute of my ancestor has stood for years in Richmond as an idol of this white supremacist mind set. The statue is a hollow reminder of a painful ideology and acts of oppression against black people. Taking it down will provide new opportunities for conversations, relationships, and policy change.”
Robert W. Lee, IV, further stated that “the new cause of this country is about justice, equality, peace and concord. We can and must be different. Now is the time to make this new cause the hope of this upcoming generation of activists. We can give the gift of Southern hospitality and community instead of passing on a pseudo-historical and oppressive understanding of the world.”
Robert W. Lee, IV, concluded his Opinion article stating “We must begin anew each morning to redeem the world and atone for the past.”
