Immigration activists near Chicago are protesting renaming a middle school after former President Barack Obama due to his record on deportations.
“I will not be part of renaming a school after someone who did not and does not represent the undocumented community,” said District 60 school board member Edgar Castellanos.
Waukegan’s Board of Education met Tuesday evening to discuss renaming Thomas Jefferson Middle School and Daniel Webster Middle School. Both schools came under name review for having titles tied to historical men who either owned slaves or supported slavery.
A name commemorating Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama is one of the top choices for Thomas Jefferson Middle School’s new title, but activists are pushing back and held a protest outside of the board’s meeting on Tuesday.
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“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 head of a local immigration organization told ABC 7. “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 added.
One woman, Mauricio Sanchez, said the name change honoring Obama would serve as a painful reminder that her father was deported under his administration.
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“It was something very sad,” Sanchez said. “We couldn’t even say goodbye to our dad. We just hoped for him to be able to get out.”
The protest comes as Obama’s presidential library in Chicago prepares to break ground this coming September.
Today, we’re excited to unveil the words that will appear on the exterior of the Obama Presidential Center Museum—a place to learn from history that will also offer future leaders inspiration and tools to write chapters of their own.
Watch the video below to see for yourself: pic.twitter.com/gWCpCGIf31
— The Obama Foundation (@ObamaFoundation) March 7, 2021
