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Houston takes action on schools named for Confederate leaders

HOUSTON -- The governing board of the biggest school district in Texas has voted to rename seven schools previously named for Confederate leaders.

The Houston school district board voted Thursday to strip the schools of the names of Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee, Albert Sidney Johnston and Stonewall Jackson; Confederate President Jefferson Davis; Confederate Postmaster General John H. Reagan; Sabine Pass commander Dick Dowling and Southern dialect author and Confederate veteran Sidney Lanier.

Among the changes, Lee High School will be named for longtime Houston educator Margaret Wisdom and Jackson Middle School will be named for Hispanic community activist Yolanda Black Navarro.

When it embarked on the renaming process, the district said it wanted names to represent its modern values and diversity, in accordance with its non-discrimination policies.

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