Erasing Historical Heroes

San Francisco is overhauling their schools. They are not changing things to better help their students or teachers. No, they’ve decided to change the names of over 40 schools, erasing historical heroes. Why? Well, simply because they decided that the people the schools are named for did something offensive to their senses at one point. Nevermind the difference in the culture of those in history and now. No, they did something offensive like follow their culture and so must be erased.

If you can’t tell, I find this completely ridiculous. Some of the names being changed include George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Francis Scott Key, and Paul Revere. Their reasoning includes that changing the names is a moral message and that we should not look to mortals as heroes. Utter ridiculousness.

Reasons This Is Ridiculous

First, we live in a time where children have to learn through the computer rather than in classrooms. Why is the school board more focused on the names of the schools than on helping the students? If you have the time and money to spend on changing names on that many schools, then you should focus your resources on helping children obtain the best possible education. Straight up, the name of the school has nothing to do with that. Do you want to be moral? Then do something actually of worth like teach children.

According to Google, a hero means “a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.” Life is not black and white. Just because one person does something you disagree, does not necessarily erase the good they did.

Take George Washington. I consider him a hero. He put his life on the line constantly, first to fight for independence, giving us the life we have now. He also helped shape the government that gives these ridiculous people the ability to make these stupid decisions. People try to make Washington a villain because he owned slaves, in a time when most rich people owned slaves. Is slavery right or good? No, but that doesn’t take away all the good done. Though mortal, Washington did a lot of admirable good and should be honored.

Stop Erasing Historical Heroes

We could say the same for many of the people they want to remove as school names. Stop erasing historical heroes. Instead, we should teach our children to look at the good qualities and how to change the bad. Stop the ridiculousness. Stop making people seem black and white. No one is completely good or bad. We all have done good and bad. Guess what? So did our historical heroes. Instead of condemnation, we need to learn to show more compassion and stop erasing these great men and women deserving of honor and praise.