ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — On Tuesday, the Orange County Public School Board renamed a middle school formerly named after a well known Confederate general. 

What You Need To Know

  • Stonewall Jackson Middle School has been renamed Roberto Clemente Middle School

  • The effort to change the school's name has been ongoing for several years

  • Roberto Clemente is the first Latin American player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame

For years, people living near the school and community activists have wanted the name Stonewall Jackson Middle School changed.

“Fall of 2017 (was) when I first started to bring it to the attention of the board,” said Amman Thomas. 

He’s had two children already go through the now-former Stonewall Jackson Middle School and one who will be going there next year.

He told the board Tuesday, before they voted to change the name, how hard it was to send his children to a school named after a Confederate general.

“As an African American, and as an American descended from slaves, the name Stonewall Jackson was extremely offensive to me,” Thomas explained. 

Several other community members also spoke out against the name.

The School Board was urged to replace it with the name Roberto Clemente, the first Latin American baseball player to be inducted into the national baseball hall of fame.

The name chosen by 72% of people surveyed in the area.

Roberto Clemente was the name everyone at the meeting Tuesday thought was a better reflection of the community the school serves.

“Orlando is a diverse place with many different peoples and especially that particular neighborhood,” Thomas said. 

And the board unanimously agreed.

“I think we all needed a big win this year, and this was it,” said board chair Teresa Jacobs to cheers, after the board voted unanimously to change the name to Roberto Clemente Middle School. 

“Now you have a community, that’s never had a person who’s name from their community, as the name of a school. Who could not celebrate that?” Thomas said.