Fairfax High School drops Rebel nickname, Mosby Woods name change coming

[Anonymous]

Principal took charge of this. That’s leadership, well done. Mosby Woods ES to be changed as well.

During the 2019-20 school year, Lenart informed the staff, PTA, booster clubs, and students of the change and began implementing the change to Lions, Lions Den, and Lion Pride at the school. Band uniforms, a new gym floor, and spirit wear were purchased using just the Fairfax High School name. Where it is fiscally responsible, sponsors of clubs, activities, and athletic teams are being asked to rebrand anything that has Rebel or Confederate ties to the name.

At today’s Fairfax County School Board Forum prior to the Board’s regular business meeting, the Board indicated support for moving forward with a proposal to rename Mosby Woods Elementary School and will schedule it as New Business at an upcoming School Board meeting once the process to rename Robert E. Lee High School is completed. The school carries the name of John S. Mosby, a Confederate army colonel.

[Anonymous]

As a city of Fairfax resident, I am so happy about this. Also the street FHS is on will be renamed from Rebel Way to Lions Way. These changes were easier then Justice, Lee or MW because the City owns the buildings and the street. I fully expect that Lanier MS will change within the next year too.

[Anonymous]

Sidney Lanier, from Wikipedia: The United Daughters of the Confederacy worked successfully to enhance Lanier's legacy

Amazing how ingrained these symbols of white supremacy are in our communities. I had no idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sidney Lanier, from Wikipedia: The United Daughters of the Confederacy worked successfully to enhance Lanier's legacy

Amazing how ingrained these symbols of white supremacy are in our communities. I had no idea.

8:07 PP again
Lanier was also chosen because there was a trend of naming middle schools for poets in the ‘60s. But yeah, it’s gotta go.

[Anonymous]

I would like to see Mosby Woods become Maple Woods Elem School. My kid went there. Let's pick a name to stand the test of time.

[Anonymous]

I don’t really get why anyone named teams after Rebels.

The confederacy, in addition to openly seeking to preserve slavery, was a bunch of *losers*. They lost. They were traitors to America and they got their butts kicked.

Who wants to be a loser?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t really get why anyone named teams after Rebels.

The confederacy, in addition to openly seeking to preserve slavery, was a bunch of *losers*. They lost. They were traitors to America and they got their butts kicked.

Who wants to be a loser?

They also killed American soldiers.

[Anonymous]

Here's what the principal sent out



Dear Family Fairfax,

For those who have been at Fairfax High School for a long time, you know that the history of the mascot and name change is a long one, with the removal of Johnny Reb in 1985 by then Principal Harry Holsinger. Johnny Reb, the original mascot, depicts an image of a confederate soldier. Research will yield myriad results on the history of Johnny Reb, and how he came to be and what he represented; however, research is fairly restricted to a very narrow list with regards to the reasons the South had for secession, and the preservation of the institution of slavery is at the top.


The history of the mascot change at Fairfax evolved from that removal of Johnny Reb to the Rebel Rouser to Rebel Pride. Each iteration maintained some element of Rebel, and the most recent iteration, Rebel Pride, is a phrase frequently used in tribute to the Confederacy. Though I believe the intention of our students who participated in the rebranding to Rebel Pride was not to glorify the Confederacy, I also understand that we do not have the luxury of rebranding in contradiction to what a long and well-established history already defines it to mean—and Rebel Pride has such a history.

At Fairfax, we pride ourselves on inclusivity, family, belongingness, respect, and integrity, and given the history of Rebel, it is time for a change: Moving forward, Fairfax High School will no longer be the Rebel Pride; we will be known as the Fairfax Lions.

Last September, I began working with our City of Fairfax and FCPS leadership on this team-name change, and over the coming school year, we will work together to remove the Rebel when it is fiscally responsible. This past school year, new uniforms were purchased without the team name, and any centrally-school created items did not display Rebel. There are other examples that were already in our capital improvements that I have used or planned to advantage this impending change.

As we move forward, I hope that our entire community can feel whole, valued, appreciated, affirmed and supported as we rise together as the Fairfax Lions.

I am proud to be a Fairfax Lion.

[Anonymous]

Since the opposite of "rebel" is sheeple, I think we found a new a new mascot.

You know, the motto of you aging commies used to be "Question Authority." That is somewhat synomomous with "be rebellious." Perhaps nuance of thought is a lost art these days.

[Anonymous]

Where is the line?

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were slave owners.

Bull run was a battle won by the confederates

The references are everywhere in this area

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since the opposite of "rebel" is sheeple, I think we found a new a new mascot.

You know, the motto of you aging commies used to be "Question Authority." That is somewhat synomomous with "be rebellious." Perhaps nuance of thought is a lost art these days.

Are you advocating for losers? Doesn’t it feel bad to think about how a group of Northern liberals plus Black soldiers absolutely destroyed the confederacy, till each of its soldiers and leaders was begging for mercy? Traitors. But also losers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since the opposite of "rebel" is sheeple, I think we found a new a new mascot.

You know, the motto of you aging commies used to be "Question Authority." That is somewhat synomomous with "be rebellious." Perhaps nuance of thought is a lost art these days.

Are you advocating for losers? Doesn’t it feel bad to think about how a group of Northern liberals plus Black soldiers absolutely destroyed the confederacy, till each of its soldiers and leaders was begging for mercy? Traitors. But also losers.

Please be gracious victors. Lets just right the wrongs and come together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since the opposite of "rebel" is sheeple, I think we found a new a new mascot.

You know, the motto of you aging commies used to be "Question Authority." That is somewhat synomomous with "be rebellious." Perhaps nuance of thought is a lost art these days.

Are you advocating for losers? Doesn’t it feel bad to think about how a group of Northern liberals plus Black soldiers absolutely destroyed the confederacy, till each of its soldiers and leaders was begging for mercy? Traitors. But also losers.

No. I think the causes of seccession and the Civil War were numerous and it shouldn't be boiled down to only the issue of slavery. Given that the Constitution was originally written by a collection of sovereign states, it's hard to argue the South was traitorous. I think Southern heritage means more than slavery to many of not most people than a defense of slavery. Look at the Dukes of Hazard. The boys displaying the flag helped the poor and rebelled against authority. As a cultural phenomenon, the flag became popular even in the North not as a symbol of slavery. This Yankee realizes I am on the losing side of the political argument on renaming schools and such, but I do think the DCUM mob could occasionally hear more nuanced viewpoints.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since the opposite of "rebel" is sheeple, I think we found a new a new mascot.

You know, the motto of you aging commies used to be "Question Authority." That is somewhat synomomous with "be rebellious." Perhaps nuance of thought is a lost art these days.

Are you advocating for losers? Doesn’t it feel bad to think about how a group of Northern liberals plus Black soldiers absolutely destroyed the confederacy, till each of its soldiers and leaders was begging for mercy? Traitors. But also losers.

Hate the ideas of the Confederacy all you want, but your grasp of history is flimsy if you think most Union soldiers were liberals or that every Confederate soldier somehow ended up begging for mercy. Most Union soldiers were white and profoundly racist and most Confederate soldiers just returned to the small town and rural lives they had been living before the war.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Are you advocating for losers? Doesn’t it feel bad to think about how a group of Northern liberals plus Black soldiers absolutely destroyed the confederacy, till each of its soldiers and leaders was begging for mercy? Traitors. But also losers.

Northern liberals? Led by Lincoln, a founder of the Republican party?
Learn some history. It's really not surprising that the Confederacy was destroyed given the relative sizes of the North and South. I'm not sure how this destruction nor the begging for mercy really adds to your moral argument.