Historians slam woke teacher responsible for renaming 44 San Francisco schools after it emerges he used WIKIPEDIA for research to denounce Paul Revere and ridiculed idea of consulting scholars
Acclaimed historians are hitting out at a chairman in charge of renaming 44 San Francisco schools after it was revealed that he refused to consult with them during the decision-making process and his research was based on information he found on Wikipedia.
Earlier this week, the San Francisco Board of Education voted 6-1 to strip 44 public schools of their current monikers because they honor 'racist' figures from American history. Schools named after politicians including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln are now set to be rebranded in the coming months.
The controversial decision comes three years after a task force was established to study the names of the city's 125 schools to determine which ones needed to be replaced amid a nationwide reckoning on race.
Activist and teacher Jeremiah Jeffries served as committee chair on the task force and is said to have 'ridiculed' a proposal to bring in historians for consultation.
Jeffries reportedly stated: 'What would be the point? History is written and documented pretty well across the board. And so, we don't need to belabor history in that regard. We're not debating that. There's no point in debating history in that regard. Either it happened or it didn't.'
He added: 'Based on our criteria, it's a very straightforward conversation. And so, no need to bring historians forward to say – they either pontificate and list a bunch of reasons why, or they had great qualities. Neither are necessary in this discussion.'
Instead, committee members allegedly used references from Wikipedia and other non-scholarly sources to determine which personalities were racist and problematic. Several of those citations has now been proven to be factually incorrect.
According to Mission Local, one committee member urged that the name of acclaimed American poet James Russell Lowell should be stripped off a high school because a Wikipedia citation stated that he did 'not want black people to vote'.
However, that claim is false - and scholarly articles assert that Lowell 'unequivocally advocated giving the ballot to the recently freed slave'.
Acclaimed historians are hitting out Jeremiah Jeffires - the chairman in charge of renaming San Francisco schools after it was revealed that he refused to consult them during the decision-making process
Elsewhere, the committee concluded that Paul Revere's name should be removed from a middle school after citing an article from the History Channel website. Members alleged that Revere's military activities were tied to 'the conquest of the Penobscot Indians'.
In a third example cited by Mission Local, James Lick - who resided in San Francisco - was also deemed 'racist' after members failed to critically read an article about the famous 19th century businessman.
The committee stated that Lick had funded a sculpture showing an American Indian lying at the feet of white men. However, in actuality, 18 years before the sculpture was created, and it was only partially funded by his posthumous estate.
Several of the nation's leading historians are now blasting the committee in a Mission Local article titled: 'The San Francisco School District's renaming debacle has been a historic travesty.'
The scholars assert that Jeffries appeared eager to ignore nuance and academic debate in favor of pursuing his own 'political agenda'.
'The decision not to include historians in the process seems misguided — and assumes a political agenda that is not necessarily fair,' Professor Nicole Maurantonio at the University of Richmond told Mission Local.
'To ignore historians suggests that the actors involved are intent on privileging a version of the past that might fit a particular set of interests that might or might not align with history,' she added.
Eric Foner, a Columbia professor and the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, says the renaming process lacked complexity.
'If you can only name schools after people who were perfect, you will have a lot of unnamed schools,' he told the publication.
Alexis Coe, the author of a best-selling biography on George Washington, concurred.
'We're being confronted with all-or-nothing choices when it comes to our founding history, monuments, or school names. That's not how history works, or our lives work, or how anything works.'
'If you can only name schools after people who were perfect, you will have a lot of unnamed schools': Columbia professor and the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Eric Foner is critical of the process
Professor Nicole Maurantonio at the University of Richmond and author Alexis Coe both says the decision-making process appeared to lack nuance
Jeremiah Jeffries, the man in charge of school renaming, whose Nation of Islam parents inspired him
Jeremiah Jeffries, chairman of the renaming committee and a first grade teacher
The man behind the renaming of 44 of San Francisco's schools is a first grade teacher who was influenced by his parents - both prominent members of the Nation of Islam - who set up their own Islamic school.
Jeremiah Jeffries, chairman of the renaming committee, revealed in an interview his mother told him 'There's nothing mysterious about progression. It's working instead of wishing.'
She and her husband set up the Sister Clara Muhammad School that serve a predominately African-American Muslim population.
The Nation of Islam, which is defined as an organized hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its racist, anti-Semitic and anti-gay teachings and rhetoric of black superiority over whites.
Jeffries also led San Francisco's largest school boycott when he encouraged 200 families to send their children to protest the closure of a school, rather then to lessons in 2006.
In 1999, Jeffries hit headlines nationwide when he held a protest against teachers spending their own money on school supplies.
The San Francisco School District increased the school supply budget for the first time in decades as a result.
He has also carved out a reputation as a power-broker for the district's Board of Education, using his influence to get at least four candidates - teaching professionals - appointed.
Jeffries grew up in Philadelphia as one of seven children.
At the age of 12, after his sister was shot dead, Jeffries had his first taste of working in education as a janitor at a childcare center.
He later went to the University of Virginia, where he first got involved in racial justice activism with the Black Student Alliance including getting the first black woman into student office.
When he moved to San Francisco he cofounded Teachers 4 Change and, later, Teachers 4 Social Justice activism groups alongside Mark Sanchez - who is also on the renaming committee.
Teachers 4 Social Justice was set up to 'help teachers build their practice and become better teachers', holding annual conferences and social justice workshops each year and pushing for education policy reforms.
Currently, he is overseeing the name change for 44 of the district's schools after the renaming committee ruled the namesakes are inappropriate or racist.
The final decision on school names won't be made until April 19th, but the parents' hope is that there will be enough public opposition that the plan will be abandoned.
Almost 8,000 people have signed an online petition strongly criticizing the decision.
It is estimated that the cost of renaming each school will be $100,000, with schools needing to replace signs, school gear and other branding if their names are forced to change.
In total, the committee is hoping to rename almost a third of the district's 125 schools.
Thomas Edison will be scratched off Thomas Edison Charter Academy due to his 'fondness for electrocuting animals'.
George Washington's name will be removed from the high school named after him. The father of the nation owned slaves and ordered Indians killed.
Herbert Hoover Middle School is to be renamed over the namesake's role in redlining - the segregation of black families - when he was secretary of commerce.
And Roosevelt Middle School faces a rebranding over President Theodore Roosevelt's opposition of civil rights and black suffrage for black people.
Modern figures haven't been spared from the cut either.
Dianne Feinstein, who was Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988 and has since served as a Democrat California Senator since 1992, will have her name removed from Dianne Feinstein Elementary because she 'allowed police dogs to attack Filipino veteran elders', the committee ruled.
Jeffries said Feinstein has never made amends for these failings.
Abraham Lincoln High School in the Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco is now set to be renamed
The president, who is often held up as an American hero for abolishing slavery, is just one of 44 historical figures that could soon have their names scratched off schools within the San Francisco Unified School District
However, there has been strong backlash to the decision to rename the schools, with thousands signing a new petition.
'As parents/constituents, we strongly disagree with this decision - when schools are still yet to open and SFUSD has not come up with an effective plan for remote learning, we believe that renaming schools is the wrong priority,' the petition reads.
'As Mayor London Breed recently said, this decision by the School Board is '...offensive. It's offensive to parents who are juggling their children's daily at-home learning schedules with doing their own jobs and maintaining their sanity...It's offensive to our kids who are staring at screens day after day instead of learning and growing with their classmates and friends.'
However, San Francisco Board of Education President Gabriela Lopez has defended the decision.
'I want to ensure people this in no way cancels or erases history,' she stated.
'But it does shift from upholding them and honoring them, and these opportunities are a great way to have that conversation about our past and have an opportunity to uplift new voices.'
Lopez said the decision is timely and important and sends a strong message that goes beyond racism tied to slavery and condemns wider 'racist symbols and white supremacy culture we see in our country.'
Senator Diane Feinstein could have her name removed from Dianne Feinstein Elementary
Roosevelt Middle School could also be rebranding over President Theodore Roosevelt's opposition of civil rights and black suffrage for black people
The committee concluded that Paul Revere's name should be removed from a middle school after citing an article from the History Channel website. Members alleged that Revere's military activities were tied to 'the conquest of the Penobscot Indians'.
SAN FRANCISCO SCHOOL BOARD VOTES TO RENAME 44 SCHOOLS OVER 'DISHONOROABLE LEGACIES' OF NAMESAKES:
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: U.S. president targeted for his treatment of indigneous people, Abraham Lincoln High School.
GEORGE WASHINGTON: The first U.S. president and a slave owner, George Washington High School.
VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA: A Spanish explorer targeted by the board over colonization and abuses of indigenous people, Balboa High School.
MISSION DOLORES: The 7th mission founded by Spanish settlers in their quest to colonize and evangelize the native peoples of California, Mission High School.
JAMES R. LOWELL: While initially involved in the movement to abolish slavery, the poet's support wavered over the years, Lowell High School.
JAMES DENMAN: Founder of first S.F. school and first superintendent, a racist leader who denied Chinese students a public education, James Denman Middle School.
EDWARD EVERETT: An American statesman who a speech in 1826 in which he appeared to endorse slavery, despite his arguments that he rejected the slave trade and the act of kidnapping someone into slavery, Everett Middle School.
HERBERT HOOVER: U.S. president: African-American leaders condemned various aspects of the Hoover administration, including his unwillingness to push for a federal anti-lynching law, Herbert Hoover Middle School.
JAMES LICK: A land baron whose estate funded the controversial 'Early Days' statue depicting Native Americans in a demeaning manner, James Lick Middle School.
PRESIDIO: S.F. military post estalished in 1776 as Spain's northern-most outpost of colonial power, Presidio Middle School.
THEODORE OR F.D. ROSSEVELT: Both U.S. Presidents. Teddy Roosevelt held Racist attitudes toward Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Filipinos during the Spanish-American War; F.D received heavy criticism for his internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War, Roosevelt Middle School.
HENRY WARE LAWTON: An officer in the U.S. Civil War, Lawton K-8
CLAIRE LILIENTHAL: A S.F. school board member, two school sites
PAUL REVERE: A Patriot in the American Revolution, Paul Revere K-8
ALAMO: A poplar tree or the site of Texas Revolution battle, Alamo Elementary
PEDRO DE ALVARADO: A conquistador, Alvarado Elementary,
EDWIN BRYANT: The author penned editorials supporting the anti-Catholic nativism movement and a series of racist attacks on Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson for his black common law wife and two mixed race daughters, Bryan Elementary
EDWARD HYDE: The English politician and Earl of Clarendon, Clarendon Elementary Second Community and Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program
, ,EL DORADO: Mythical City of Gold, El Dorado Elementary
DIANNE FEINSTEIN: The US Senator replaced a Condererate Flag at City Hall while the Mayor of San Francisco in 1984, Dianne Feinstein Elementary
JAMES GARFIELD: US President, Garfield Elementary
WILLIAM HENRY GRATTAN : An Irish author regarded as controversial due to the inaccuracy of some of his work, Grattan Elementary
:THOMAS JEFFERSON: U.S. president and a slave owner, Jefferson Elementary
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY: Composer of 'Star Spangled Banner', Francis Scott Key Elementary
FRANK MCCOPPIN: San Francisco Mayor, Frank McCoppin Elementary
WILLIAM MCKINLEY: US President, McKinley's expansionist policies are now widely viewed as racist toward indigenous people, McKinley Elementary
JAMES WILSON MARSHALL: Sawmill worker at Sutter's Mill, who reported the finding of gold at Coloma on the American River in California on January 24, 1848, sparking the California Gold Rush, Marshall Elementary
JAMES MONROE: US President and slave owner, Monroe Elementary
JOHN MUIR: The naturalist made comments that invoked racist stereotypes made toward black people, John Muir Elementary
JOSE ORTEGA: A Spanish colonizer, Jose Ortega Elementary
JOSE BERNARDO SANCHEZ: A Spanish missionary, Sanchez Elementary
JUNIPERO SERRA: Elementary, Spanish priest to be renamed due to colonization and abuses of indigenous people Serra Elementary
GEN. PHILIP SHERIDAN: A Union General in the American Civil War, Sheridan Elementary
GEN. WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN: Did not believe in equality between white and black people despiet being a genera in the Northern Army during the Civil War, Sherman Elementary
JOHN SLOAT: Navy officer and a colonizer who 'claimed/stole' California from Mexico, Commodore Sloat Elementary
JOHN SLOAT:JOHN SLOAT:ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON: Author, Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary
ADOLPH SUTRO: S.F. mayor accused of discriminating against black people in the 19th century who wanted to visit the baths named after him, Sutro Elementary
ADOLPH SUTRO:ADOLPH SUTRO:DON ANTONIO DE ULLOA: Spanish General and the the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, Ulloa Elementary
DANIEL WEBSTER: U.S. Statesman who urged northerners to respect slavery in the South and to assist in the return of fugitive slaves to their owners, Daniel Webster Elementary
NORIEGA: Unclear, Noriega Early Education School
PRESIDIO: San Francisco Military Post formerly established by the Spanish, Presidio EES
ROBERT F STOCKTON: Navy Commodore who captured California during the Mexican–American War, Stockton EES