Email Campaign

Joseph Wheeler Name Change Email Draft #1: Historical Injustice

Members of the Cobb County School Board:

Cobb County voted to integrate on March 1, 1965, eleven years after Brown vs. Board of Education and two days before the federal deadline. Cobb’s newest high school was Joseph Wheeler, named one year prior, and this timing was no coincidence. Joseph E. Wheeler High School was named in the midst of resistance towards integration and was a display of hostility towards the newly integrated students; a tactic that has been documented historically, specifically around times of racial strife. The man Joseph Wheeler has absolutely no bearing on our area outside of his involvement in the Civil War, in fact, his only tie to Cobb County is dependent on his efforts as a Confederate General.

Joseph Wheeler was loyal to a government that endorsed ideals that sought to subjugate people on the basis of their race. He gave one of the first revisionist speeches (called “Slavery and States Rights”), blaming the North for the war and triggering the subsequent arguments about “states rights”, “nullification”, and all other claims that were used to justify the subsequent Jim Crow era. This wave of thought is academically known as revisionism and aims to paint a "prettier" picture of the south while teaching inaccurate and often misleading claims.

Again, to emphasize the most enraging point here: Joseph Wheeler was picked as a namesake in 1965 --nowhere near the Civil War-- for no other reason than the Board wanting a confederate name on a school in the same time period that integration began. In light of this, the need for immediate change is clear.

Signed,

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Joseph Wheeler Name Change Email Draft #2: Our Student Body

Dear Cobb County School board,

Here are some stats for you: Wheeler High School's student body is 74% minority. It is the 6th most diverse high school in the entire state of Georgia. The front lobby holds hundreds of flags, each representing a country of heritage for our international population. The student body is proudly, vibrantly, and extraordinarily diverse yet their school's namesake honors a man who was loyal to a government that endorsed ideals that would subjugate 3/4ths of the student population.

Joseph E. Wheeler High School is only one of six remaining high schools in Georgia that bears a confederate name. Considering the specific characteristics of this school, this namesake is ill-fitting and inappropriate. We are counting on you.

Signed,

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