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Why Are We Removing Over 150 Years of History?

Jamie Bridenstine
Kaitlyn Suppes
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Wyoming chapter.

**The opinions in this article are those of the author and not representative of the thoughts and views of Her Campus*

 

On October 24th, Travis Fedschun of Fox News wrote an article about Oklahoma City schools named after Confederate generals being renamed.

 

“The Oklahoma City Public Schools School Board voted 7-0 to change the names of the Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Isaac Stand Watie schools.”

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Fedschun quoted the district officials, “It is expected to cost around $40,000 to rename all three schools.”

 

My question is, why are we going through the troubles of renaming schools, and even as far as taking down Confederate statues?

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And why are we still talking about this?

 

I grew up in Virginia, which is obviously considered a southern state. Before I could go through the state’s high school curriculum of learning about Virginia history, I moved to wonderful Wyoming and had the opportunity to learn about Wyoming’s history. I still had a passion for learning about the Civil War in Virginia.

 

After learning about the Civil War, it should be common knowledge that the Confederates were in the wrong (duh).

 

But is it really worth throwing away over 100 years of our history?

 

Let’s be real here. We could spend the money used on renaming schools elsewhere. Perhaps cleaning up our tattered common-core curriculum (that, by the way, still doesn’t work for everyone). That $40,000 could be used on saving certain programs in our school systems… *cough cough* the art and music programs? And don’t lie to yourself, it’s common knowledge that many schools are ignoring them to make room for more common core classes, such as in my middle school back home.

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And the fact that we’re throwing away history makes me even more livid. Those statues and those public school names serve as a reminder of what happened 150 years ago.

 

Isn’t it common knowledge that history is likely to repeat itself? If we aren’t constantly reminded of this, will we follow the path that history wants to follow, that it’s already followed many times before.

 

If we continue to take down Civil War artifacts, will we soon be burning Civil War books? Will we forget all that has happened because we destroyed the history?

 

The statues or school names aren’t commemorating how great those men were. I can’t state that enough. They are there to remind us of the wrongdoing done in that era.

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Keep the statues. Keep the public school names. Keep the history.

 

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“Sometimes you want to have a very productive Saturday to feel that you are in control of your life, which of course you are not.” -Tina Fey, Bossypants Jamie Bridenstine... How do I even begin to explain Jamie Bridenstine. Jamie Bridenstine is flawless. She has two Fendi purses and a silver Lexus. I hear her hair's insured for $10,000. I hear she does car commercials... in Japan. Her favorite movie is Varsity Blues. One time, she met John Stamos on a plane. And he told her she was pretty. One time, she punched me in the face. It was awesome. Jamie Bridenstine is a 4th year undergrad at the University of Wyoming, earning her B.A. in Communication and a minor in Military Science. Her favorite move is Mean Girls... and any movie with Tina Fey in it. She enjoys deep conversations about politics, procrastinating on group projects, and watching The Office over and over again. Jamie has the cutest dog in the world, Timber, and is ready to take on the world after college. She will be heading up to Washington after graduation to pursue her career in the military... and hopefully her graduate degree in Public Relations.
Kaitlyn is a recent grad the University of Wyoming, where she got her degree in Marketing. She has been the Campus Correspondent for a Pink level chapter, a Chapter Advisor to some amazing chapters, and now has the pleasure of being a Region Leader. Born and raised on the Western Slope of Colorado, her love for nature and the outdoors comes naturally. Kaitlyn lives for football season, but finds way to stay preoccupied during the off-season. She enjoys long walks in the mountains, beer as cold as her heart, and bacon on her burgers. You can follow Kaitlyn’s adventures on Instagram, @kaysoup.