Change the name

Regarding “Fight brewing over Lee High School’s name,” (A1, March 27): I will quote a small passage about Robert E. Lee from Isabel Wilkerson’s most recent book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.” “In 1859, three of the people he enslaved on his Virginia plantation fled north and were captured near the Pennsylvania border. They were forced back to Lee’s plantation. Upon their arrival, Lee told them that ‘he would teach them a lesson they would never forget.’ Lee ordered his overseer to strip them to

the waist, tie them to posts, and whip the men 50 lashes and the women 20, on their bare backs. When the overseer refused, Lee got the county constable and told him to ‘lay it on well,’ which the constable did. Not satisfied with simply lacerating their naked flesh, General Lee then ordered the overseer to thoroughly wash their backs with brine, which was done.”

If I were a Black student — or even the parent of a Black student — I would not want to enter the doors of a school that was named to honor this man. The naming of schools is done to honor and celebrate the accomplishments of a person. Robert E. Lee does not deserve that honor. In truth, he led an insurrection against the United States of America — this is treason. And, he led this insurrection for the reason of guaranteeing the right of white plantation owners in the South to own Black human beings.

Renaming Robert E. Lee High School is not trying to undo history. It is simply to affirm that we will not honor this man.

Scott Sawyer, Houston