(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The largest school district in Maryland is reportedly considering renaming a middle school named after the author of The Star-Spangled Banner due to his ownership of slaves, the Daily Mail reported on Monday.
Montgomery County Public Schools aims to purge the names of schools associated with slave owners, which includes Francis Scott Key Middle School, named after Francis Scott Key, a Maryland native and poet who authored the U.S. National Anthem.
This potential move follows a district review that identified at least seven schools named after individuals now named under the left’s persona non grata blacklists.
They’re coming for the National Anthem now https://t.co/wShSFEw2NJ
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) November 28, 2023
The schools facing scrutiny include the Montgomery Blair High School; Francis Scott Key Middle School; Col. Zadok Magruder High School; Richard Montgomery High School; John Poole Middle School; Thomas S. Wootton High School; and the Julius West Middle School.
In 2019, the board of education introduced new naming criteria for schools, requiring that the potential honoree must be deceased and have made a significant contribution to the community.
Three year later, members of Magruder High School initiated a petition to rename their school because of Col. Zadok Magruder’s alleged ownership of 26 enslaved individuals listed on the 1790 Census, the Mail reported, citing a Washington Post article.
In response, the school district distributed surveys within the community regarding the renaming of several schools, including the one named after Key. Reportedly, the district also engaged a consulting group called Coaction Collective to facilitate discussions about the district’s perspective on the names.
According to the Mail, the U.S. National Park Service stated that Key had a complex relationship with slavery. As an attorney, he believed that all men were “free” by “the law of nature,” but his family owned slaves at the time of his birth. It’s also believed that Key himself owned six enslaved individuals by 1820.
The news was met with swift criticism from conservative critics on Twitter. Podcast host Jack Posobiec commented, “They’re coming for the National Anthem now.” In response, a user remarked on Posobiec’s tweet, stating, “That’s what socialists do …take away the culture…the past. They want it all gone.”
