A Chicago-area school named after Thomas Jefferson will change its name to honor late Civil Rights icon Rep. John Lewis instead of former President Barack Obama after strong backlash against naming the school after the 44th president.
Latino groups have been vocally opposing the plan to change Thomas Jefferson Middle School to Barack and Michelle Obama Middle School due to Obama’s record of deporting illegal immigrants, causing school officials to settle on the name John Lewis Elementary, according to Fox News.
EXCLUSIVE: ICE GAVE $87 MILLION NO-BID CONTRACT TO BUSINESS WITH BIDEN TIES
“I think [Obama] was a great president, and he did things to move us forward,” Waukegan School Board President Brandon Ewing said during a school board meeting Tuesday night. “But just like we’re having the discussion about Thomas Jefferson, all men are flawed, and nobody’s legacies are perfect. I think we have a responsibility to listen to all constituents and weigh that in whatever decision we make.”
Last month, during a protest organized by immigration activists, the head of one local Latino organization told the media that naming the school after the Obamas would be a “disservice” to the Hispanic community.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“From the time Barack Obama became President until 2017 when he left, he today is still the highest-ranking president with deportations in our nation,” the activist said. “We feel that Barack Obama did a disservice to us. He denied us, and he didn’t stop the deportations the way he promised.”
“If you’re removing the name of Thomas Jefferson, one oppressor, the name of Obama is another oppressor, and our families do not want to see that name,” she said about Obama, who deported approximately three million illegal immigrants during his time in office.
Five of the seven school board members voted in favor of naming the school after Lewis, including Ewing, who said that the late Civil Rights leader was “one of our icons who we actually got to see grow old.”
The name change will take place on July 1.
