Confronting Confederate and White Nationalist Hate Imagery in School Dress Code Policies

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: Challenging White Supremacy in Education in Charlottesville Post-2017

Abstract

In fall 2017, anti-black incidents within the Albemarle County Public School (ACPS) system spiked including retaliation against student athletes kneeling at an ACPS football game, the refusal of teachers and administrators to engage in conversations regarding A11/A12, and the blocking of students handing out Black Lives Matter shirts at school.

Centering students of color and mentored by Hate-Free Schools Coalition (HFSC) of Orange County, NC, who successfully influenced the Orange County School Board to officially ban confederate imagery on August 13, 2017 (the day immediately following A11/A12 in Charlottesville), HFSC of Albemarle County was born.

Research and data supporting a ban included FOIA requests to collect data on the achievement gap, legal research on our 4th circuit court and historical legal precedence on this issue, nationwide data on school systems with a ban on confederate imagery, NEA declarations on their strategic initiative to remove the confederate flag from educational environments, and mental health professionals with compelling research on the negative mental health impact of confederate and white nationalist imagery on student performance.

In January 2018, parents, students, teachers and community members began attending ACPS School Board (SB) meetings with a mission to influence the ACPS SB to actively dismantle white supremacy within the school system including the dress code policy and curriculum. After several months of meetings with SB members and ACPS staff, and consistent community support during public comment at SB meetings, the ACPS SB still continues to refuse to take a vote to ban confederate and white nationalist imagery despite the overwhelming evidence and community support on this issue. In August 2018, the Charlottesville City Schools (CCS), in collaboration with HFSC, approved a resolution to ban the imagery.

In March 2019, the ACPS Superintendent finally took the action to create an operational ban on confederate and white nationalist imagery with a communication to all parents, students, teachers, and administration to align with his reinterpretation of the current dress code. Even with this operational ban, the ACPS SB continues to refuse to take a vote to officially ban this imagery within the official dress code policy.

In spite of the SB’s refusal to align to the legal precedent on this topic, which fully supports a ban on this hate imagery due to its negative impact on student learning, we have seen movement in a positive direction driven by the continued demands by parents, students, and community members for accountability within the ACPS system towards intentional anti-racism work. Results include:
Removal of Lee-Jackson Day from the school calendar
Creation of an anti-racism policy led by ACPS students
The implementation of policy & procedure for renaming schools with racist namesakes
A groundswell of community support resulting in anti-racist candidates for two open positions in the upcoming School Board elections in November
The significance of this work is far-reaching. Actively dismantling white supremacy within our education system is critical to closing the achievement gap, eliminating the school-to-prison pipeline, and supporting the mental health of students.

Author

• Amanda A. Moxham, Hate-Free Schools Coalition of Albemarle County