Civil Rights Leaders Challenge Trump Tell How They Brought a Lee Monument Down

Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable President and Hutchinson Report Host Earl Ofari Hutchinson, on Thursday, August 17, reminded that in July 2015, his organization spearheaded a drive by civil rights leaders in Los Angeles to get the Long Beach, California School district to remove the name of Robert E. Lee from one of its schools. The Lee name had been on the school for decades. The drive involved press conferences, rallies, a community mobilization and a direct challenge to the Lee name at a packed school board meeting. The direct action campaign achieved victory. The board, with a spirited, and aroused community in attendance at its meeting, voted unanimously to take down the name and rename the school in honor of a noted Latino educator and civic leader.

"At the same moment Trump is praising the "beauty" of Confederate monuments, " says Hutchinson, " I, and other civil rights leaders, proved that a determined, focused campaign to knock down a Confederate named school, institution, or monument can be successful. We will work with, and share our experiences, in how to combat Confederate monuments with any and all civil rights groups. There are more than 1000 of them in many cities nationally."