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Mississippi school named after Jefferson Davis to be renamed after Barack Obama

Posted at 9:52 PM, Oct 18, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-19 07:50:01-04

JACKSON, Miss. — A public school in Jackson, Mississippi, named after Confederate President Jefferson Davis, will be renamed to honor former President Barack Obama.

Davis Magnet International Baccalaureate Elementary, a predominantly black school, will be renamed Barack Obama Magnet International Baccalaureate Elementary, school leaders announced Tuesday.

“Jefferson Davis… would probably not be too happy about a diverse school promoting the education of the very individuals he fought to keep enslaved being named after him,” PTA President Janelle Jefferson, said at a recent school board meeting, according to the Clarion-Ledger.

Jefferson said changing the school name was raised by a student, according to NBC News.

“They know who [Davis] was and what he stood for,” she said. “This has a great impact on them, because [Obama] is who they chose out of anybody else they could. This is the person that the whole school supported. He was their Number One choice.”

The students researched and gave presentations about their suggestions for the new name before the students ultimately voted.

Jefferson said the students chose Obama because they felt that he shared their principles.

The name change, Barack Obama Magnet International Baccalaureate Elementary, will take effect at the beginning of next school year.