Much has changed in Houston ISD in the 70 years since the U.S. Supreme Court declared racial segregation in schools illegal. The district went through a years-long process to desegregate its campuses and, in recent decades, has been led by several Black and Hispanic superintendents.
Yet for three HISD facilities, the shadow of the district’s segregated past looms heavy thanks to an explicit reminder: their names.
Two HISD campuses, Petersen Elementary School and Scarborough High School, and one athletic facility, Delmar Sports Complex, are named for former district leaders who fought to keep the district racially segregated following the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling.
Now, district officials are taking early steps toward potentially renaming the three facilities, along with five other schools whose namesakes are linked to enslavement, Native American genocide and other historical injustices.
The campuses are: Eliot, Petersen and Roberts elementary schools; Welch Middle School; Lamar and Scarborough high schools; and The Rice School/La Escuela Rice.
In response to questions from the Houston Landing in late November, HISD Superintendent Mike Miles has invited principals at the seven schools to convene committees of community members to consider new names.
In late November, HISD sent email messages to families at each of the seven campuses explaining “questions are being raised about the historical figure that is your campus’ namesake.” The letter was signed by Miles, each school’s principal and the division superintendent overseeing each campus.
“While these historical figures played an important role in our state, our city and our district, in some cases, they represent a painful and challenging part of our history,” the HISD leaders wrote. “Houston is currently one of the most diverse and resilient cities in the nation and you may no longer feel like these are the right representations of who we are now or who we strive to be.”
The letter said families would have the opportunity to drive the renaming process, and a final choice “rests with your community.” Under HISD policy, if a committee is formed and reaches a “consensus” on a name change, Miles could bring the proposal to HISD’s state-appointed board, which must vote to approve any changes.
The preliminary steps come several years after a national debate over removing statutes, facility names and other iconography that bore the likeness of historical figures linked to slavery. Proponents of such changes generally argue new names allow communities to turn the page on ugly aspects of history, while opponents contend the processes divide communities and can be a waste of time.
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Dozens of HISD buildings bear the names of former school board members, superintendents and other community leaders — though some carry complicated legacies.
Two of those board members, James Delmar and Henry Petersen, held prominent professional roles in the community and served for a combined 30 years on the HISD board.
When the court struck down “separate but equal” in 1954, Delmar and Petersen joined the faction of HISD’s board deadset against full-scale integration of the district. Delmar railed against the Civil Rights Movement during board meetings, while Petersen said forcing integration through the courts amounted to “educational dictatorship” that destroyed the “amicable relationships” between the races.
When pro-integration trustees took power on the board, the duo frequently boycotted votes and skipped board meetings. Then, when desegregation opponents won multiple elections to take back control of the board, Petersen celebrated the win of a candidate who said she would rather go to jail than integrate HISD.
Also in the late 1950s, George Cameron Scarborough, the namesake of Scarborough High, briefly held the roles of HISD deputy superintendent and acting superintendent. (HISD’s Scarborough Elementary School is named after Scarborough’s brother, Walter.)
During that time, Scarborough was a member of the Texas Citizens Council, a group created to fight desegregation. Scarborough also proposed a plan that included requiring Black teachers to stand behind a one-way mirror and observe as white teachers led lessons for Black students. The proposal, nicknamed the “Peeping Tom” plan, became the target of ridicule and disgust, with a leading Black-owned newspaper at the time calling it “a wholescale insult.”
HISD began renaming several schools that had been named for various Confederate generals and other historic figures nine years ago. There was definitely some loud whining from certain quarters, and a bit of handwringing from folks who agreed with the broader idea but thought this guy wasn’t as bad as that guy. And then the schools got renamed and I bet most of us have forgotten which ones they were, because their new names are what we’re all used to now. I fully expect that to be the case this time as well, if any or all of these changes go through.
Part of the reason why I’m glad HISD is doing this is because I for one had no idea about who any of these people were, and I’m willing to bet that would be true for 99% or more of the Houston population. I’ve lived here since 1988, I’ve driven past Delmar Stadium a million times, I’ve attended a couple of games there and dropped off and picked up my daughters there any number of times. I’d never given a moment’s thought to its namesake. I knew it had to be named after someone, but that was as far as it went. And now that I do know, my reaction is screw that guy. The list of people who are more deserving of that honor is a mile long. Pick someone from that list and get it done. Same for the rest of them.
(The Welch in question is former Houston Mayor Louie “shoot the queers” Welch, and the Rice is William Marsh Rice, who already has a whole university named after him. You’re welcome to split hairs over whose sins are the greater ones, I’ll sit that out. No one is entitled to have a building named after them. Louie Welch and William Marsh Rice and the rest of them will be just fine no matter what happens.)
Call me mean spirited, but I have little to no sympathy for the coastal residents who’ve continually and consistently moved to ‘third row’ home sites from High Island to Port Isabell and, for whatever reason, were shocked when the waterfront through second row houses were blown off their foundations by an inclement weather event. Same lack of sympathy for the folks living 3’ above grade next to a coastal plain river, who choose to rebuild (in some cases multiple times) post-flooding. It’s these massive insurance payouts by companies that’s directly the insurance rates the rest of us are paying, i.e. those who’ve chosen to live higher and drier.
Maybe if the major insurance companies stopped insuring these properties, my premium cost would go down or remain static.
Having no idea of who these people were is a good reason not to bother (and incur expense and inconvenience).
As for Rice U, please consider the brand value. If you graduated from Rice, your diploma will mark you for life. In a good way because Rice ranks high as a quality school.
So, it would not be a good idea to substitute Wheat or Corn for Rice.
The case for erasing Lee may have been better, but that was a High School, not an institution of higher learning, and it’s been a done deal for years.
HISD has nothing to do with naming Rice University, which has already moved Willie’s statue over to a quiet corner of the quad, and which is likely to retain its name for however long it’s around. HISD does, however, have naming rights to its primary schools.