America is fading

[BigBaribal]

Parents, students and teachers at Jefferson Elementary have approved changing the school's name to Sequoia Elementary because the nation's third president owned slaves.

Students at the school, named for Thomas Jefferson, voted 161 to 111 in favor of the name change, the staff voted 11 to 5 in favor, and parents and guardians voted 67 to 61 in favor.

The Berkeley Unified School District board must approve a change and is expected to consider the issue this month, district spokesman Mark Coplan said. The cost of the change would be minimal, he said.

Debate over the name of the school, which has 305 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, has gone on for more than two years after several teachers, including an African American mother of three former Jefferson students, said Jefferson's moniker offended them.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/02/BAEBDIGEST2.DTL

[Maine Finn]

Parents, students and teachers at Jefferson Elementary have approved changing the school's name to Sequoia Elementary because the nation's third president owned slaves.

Students at the school, named for Thomas Jefferson, voted 161 to 111 in favor of the name change, the staff voted 11 to 5 in favor, and parents and guardians voted 67 to 61 in favor.

The Berkeley Unified School District board must approve a change and is expected to consider the issue this month, district spokesman Mark Coplan said. The cost of the change would be minimal, he said.

Debate over the name of the school, which has 305 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, has gone on for more than two years after several teachers, including an African American mother of three former Jefferson students, said Jefferson's moniker offended them.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/02/BAEBDIGEST2.DTL

:cantbeli:

Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. So did most gentlemen of that era. It was "acceptable" for those times. Things have obviously changed, but it's sad that Jefferson is thought of only because he owned slaves.

[BigBaribal]

After all, "MalcomX elementary school" or "Robert Mugabe elementary school" sound not so bad.

[melon]

More liberal guilt rising to the surface.

Becuase the internal drive of a liberal is to right all the wrongs, and with slavery a thing of the past, this is the only thing they could do to feel better about it. By somehow besmerching the good name of Thomas Jefferson, the guilt of slavery is now off of the minds of the teachers at that school. As crazy as it sounds, it happens every day in America, liberals, logic plays no part, as long as your intentions are good.

[roland]

More liberal guilt rising to the surface.

Becuase the internal drive of a liberal is to right all the wrongs, and with slavery a thing of the past, this is the only thing they could do to feel better about it. By somehow besmerching the good name of Thomas Jefferson, the guilt of slavery is now off of the minds of the teachers at that school. As crazy as it sounds, it happens every day in America, liberals, logic plays no part, as long as your intentions are good.

Jefferson was a liberal. Not the same meaning than today though. But in this case I would rather suspect a clerics plot as the blessed @ss always tried to discredit Jefferson.
He was against slavery but the congress voted against abolition for obvious question of interest. Jefferson continued to own slaves, because freeing them would have meant his ruin for no concret effect. Not the Jefferson mentality to sacrifice himself for nothing.
Pity they don't respect this man, one of the greatest President ever for America, one of the greatest philosopher ever for the world.