“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”

—Lyndon B. Johnson

Back in July of 2015, I wrote a column focusing on this same topic. Should the Port Arthur Independent School District rename both Robert E. Lee and Dick Dowling Elementary schools?

Robert E. Lee served as a military officer in the U.S. Army, a West Point commandant and general of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.

Richard “Dick” Dowling was the victorious Confederate commander at the second battle of Sabine Pass during the American Civil War.

Both men were high-level leaders in the Confederate Army. That was an army that represented the 11 states that seceded from the Union in 1860-61. At the core of the Civil War were differences between Northern and Southern states on topics such as slavery, trade, tariffs and states rights. Unfortunately, these days most only focus on slavery as the main issue of that historical war that divided a country.

The emotional topic of slavery and racism is commonly the driving force behind community pressure towards local governments to remove historical monuments. All are part of our history that shares with everyone the importance of where we came from and how we got to where we are today.

Back in 2015, when this topic came up, I stated the decision should be a community decision. I still believe that.

But it should be a decision made for the betterment of a community and the students that attend the schools within that community. Not on any one, or group of, individuals’ feelings and their perceived view of history. Because that is exactly what it is, history.

Our nation, as did every single country in the world, had a learning curve since its inception. A learning curve that is no different than that within your very own life. Mistakes were made, mistakes were learned from and we move on hopefully to be better for making them. But they were still a part of who we came to be.

When you pay cash at any store, do you look at the faces on those dollar bills you’re handing the cashier and say “He was a slave owner” or “He started all this”? No? Why not?

On the dollar bill is the face of Gen. George Washington, our very first president, who had more than 300 slaves. The dollar bill is the most widely used currency in the nation. Has been in the hands of millions of people of all nationalities. But we need to buy stuff, so that’s OK.

Thomas Jefferson on the $2 bill, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and third president of the United States, owned more than 600 slaves. Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill, an American statesman and seventh president of the United States, had close to 200. Ulysses S. Grant on the $50 bill, a commanding general and 18^th president of the United States, had one and his wife had four. And Benjamin Franklin, on the $100 bill, helped draft the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and founded libraries and the post office, had two.

When each of us looks back at the history of our nation, there is something there that could easily offend each and every one of us at some point in time. But the last thing that should offend anyone is a name from history, because without history, none of us would be here.

A child does not learn any more or any less because of the name that is on the front of the school. They learn because of what goes on within the school. But until we teach our children that a name is not what holds them back, their very own mind will continue to do so.

Try this: Give our children a dollar bill and ask them to Google George Washington on the Internet. What will they do with the dollar — spend it or give it back?

If renaming the schools is really an important issue, then I say let the community decide.

Rich Macke is publisher of The Port Arthur News.