{"id":340,"date":"2020-10-02T15:13:42","date_gmt":"2020-10-02T19:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/?p=340"},"modified":"2020-10-14T13:37:48","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T17:37:48","slug":"t-c-community-weighs-in-on-alternative-t-c-williams-names","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/2020\/10\/02\/t-c-community-weighs-in-on-alternative-t-c-williams-names\/","title":{"rendered":"T.C. Community Weighs In On Alternative T.C. Williams Names"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alexandria City High School for the win?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Owen Wright<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In the wake of nationwide protests against racial injustice, community leaders and Alexandria residents have revitalized a two-decades-long effort to change the name of the only public high school in Alexandria. The high school was named after Thomas Chambliss Williams, Superintendent of Alexandria\u2019s public schools from the 1930s to the 1960s and known opponent of integration. Through an Instagram poll conducted by Theogony<\/em>, members of the T.C. community voiced their opinions on alternative names for the school. The people have spoken; out of the 17 who responded, 11 explained why they preferred the name they chose. Here\u2019s what they have to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Results of a poll posted on the Theogony Instagram. (To participate in polls like these, follow us on Instagram @tctheogony.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Alexandria City High School<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey should make it the Alexandria high school because in the future it is basically impossible  for people to find offensive as opposed to naming it after people because what we think is considered to be a good human being won\u2019t be 50 years from now.\u201d \u2014Eli Wilson, T.C. sophomore<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI pretty much thought since we go to school in Alexandria, the high school should be named after the city. Not after a racist.\u201d \u2014Nicole Rosario, T.C. senior<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe highest priority for me is to see the name changed, and I’m not all that picky about the new one. Even if our school was not as diverse a community as it is, it’s shameful that we would honor or lift up the legacy of a segregationist – especially when we’re nationally recognized from a movie about racial unity. I like the idea of keeping the initials not only because of that name recognition, but because it takes our school away from Thomas Chambliss and gives it to us, the City of Alexandria. This is the city’s school, and all are welcome.\u201d \u2014Ben Lyon, TV and media production and photography teacher<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably the most viable option considering how important T.C. is to Alexandria. It\u2019s quite literally \u2018the\u2019 Alexandria high school. If the name has to change, it should be named for the city it represents.\u201d \u2014James Carlisle, T.C. Class of 2020 alum<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think that naming the high school \u2018Alexandria High School\u2019 represents the city itself, and it\u2019s really simple. It\u2019s one high school for the whole city, that really unify us as a community, so why not name it after the city?\u201d \u2014Kendall Rayome, T.C. senior<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinquapin High School<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u201cT.C. was built on native grounds, these native grounds were the Chinquapin Oak Trees. That is what our Rec Center is named after. It’s important to respect the history of places, even if most people don’t know about it. Chinquapin High School would be our way of honoring the history of our land.\u201d \u2014Lily Fanning, T.C. sophomore<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Petey Jones High School<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just think that we as people tend to over glorify famous people. Petey Jones was someone who dedicated a big part of their life to this city and I think that that makes him a perfect candidate for a new school name.\u201d \u2014Judah Bawcombe, T.C. sophomore<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nolan B. Dawkins High School<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want TC to be named after Judge Nolan B. Dawkins because he is a very influential figure in Alexandria specifically. He is an African-American circuit judge who just recently retired this year. He became Alexandria\u2019s first African American Circuit Court Judge in 2000.\u201d \u2014Sarah Devendorf, T.C. senior<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parker-Gray High School<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlexandria is known for its history, it\u2019s the unique part about living in this city. If the school were to be renamed, changing the name to Parker-Gray High School, a name that has so much historical significance behind it that it would just make sense. It is part of our history. I think In conjunction to this, Parker-Gray stadium is already being upgraded and this could be changed to Titans Stadium or Boone – Yoast Stadium, again sticking with the history of the school, one important factor however is that no matter what the name change might\/could be, we must still remain the Titans.\u201d \u2014Justice Jones, T.C. Class of 2011 alum<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the wake of nationwide protests against racial injustice, community leaders and Alexandria residents have revitalized a two-decades-long effort to change the name of the only public high school in Alexandria. The high school was named after Thomas Chambliss Williams, superintendent of Alexandria\u2019s public schools from the 1930s to the 1960s and known opponent of integration. Through an Instagram poll conducted by Theogony, members of the T.C. community voiced their opinions on alternative names for the school. The people have spoken; out of the 17 who responded, 11 explained why they preferred the name they chose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":408,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-style"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/imrs.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":530,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340\/revisions\/530"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2020-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}