sep 11 2025 A federal judge on Tuesday ruled against a school district in
Virginia for reinstating a Confederate school name, saying the move violated the constitutional rights of black students.
U.S. District Judge Michael F. Urbanski ruled that Stonewall Jackson High School students in Shenandoah County, Virginia, cannot be forced to bear Jackson's name and its pro-slavery associations.
"Plaintiffs believe that when they are identified as 'Stonewall Jackson Generals' and wear 'Generals' team uniforms as they dedicate their hard work and athletic, academic, and musical talents to performances and competition victories attributable to 'Stonewall Jackson High School,' plaintiffs themselves become instruments for communicating the school board’s message," Urbanski wrote.
"When plaintiffs' bodies, hard work, talents, and achievements are intertwined with the name 'Stonewall Jackson,' plaintiffs are enlisted in conferring honor on that name, and because that name conveys a message well-understood by viewers in plaintiffs’ community, plaintiffs are enlisted in conferring honor on that message by extension," he continued.
