The Arlington (Va.) school board has given a new name to a high school that has carried the name of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
WTOP-TV reports that board has voted to change the name of Washington-Lee High School to Washington Liberty High School.
in choosing the new name, the board rejected a committee recommendation to rename the school "Washington-Loving" to honor Mildred and Richard Loving, a Virginia couple whose legal fight ended the state’s ban on interracial marriage in the 1960s.
The school had been named for two Virginia natives—Lee and George Washington, the first U.S. president.
The school board voted in 2018 to change the name of the school after months of discussion about trying to reflect the diversity of the area.
“Lee was a rebel and a traitor, and I don’t think he should be venerated in any part of the United States,” says John Holt, a senior at the school who served on the committee that worked to come up with new names for the school.
Several students opposed to the name change sued the district, claiming it had failed to follow proper procedures. A judge dismissed that challenge last month.
