There is a fine line between reinterpreting history and rewriting it, between adjusting the past to fit changing social mores and pretending that past never happened.
Along the way, those seeking what they deem to be social justice often become oversensitive to the embarrassments of history. While the changing of three elementary school names in suburban Portland falls into this category, it also raises questions about how we honor the past in Clark County.
Officials of the Centennial School District, nestled between Portland and Gresham, have opted to rename Lynch Meadows, Lynch Wood, and Lynch View elementary schools. The name comes from the family that donated land a century ago, but it has touched some nerves because it calls to mind racial violence. The mere existence of the name has generated “an increasing amount of questions and some complaints from families of color,” Superintendent Paul Coakley told The Oregonian.
In opting to change the names, school officials acknowledged the hypersensitivity of these times. And while there is value in being cognizant of citizens’ concerns, some controversy could have been avoided by leaving names that still honored homesteaders Patrick and Catherine Lynch. For example, changing the name of one school to “Patrick Lynch Elementary” or even “Patrick Elementary” would have mitigated some concerns.
The controversy fits in with an ongoing national conversation. Efforts to remove the Confederate battle flag and monuments to Confederate soldiers have led to vociferous debate in several Southern states. Both Washington and Oregon have changed place names that today are deemed racist, such as Negro Brown Canyon in central Oregon — which previously was named with a more degrading version of the word Negro. And the Oregon Board of Education has sought to force high schools to change Native American-themed mascots.
In 1986, officials of Washington’s King County kept that name but decided it now honors civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., rather that William Rufus King. The county had been named in 1852, just after William R. King was elected as Franklin Pierce’s vice president. More than a century later, it was deemed that William King’s status as a slaveholder rendered him unworthy of the honor.
Taken to the extreme, an argument could be made that Vancouver Public Schools officials should change the name of McLoughlin Middle School. Named for Dr. John McLoughlin, who was chief factor of the Hudson’s Bay Company at Fort Vancouver from 1824-45 and later became known as “The Father of Oregon,” the school honors a significant figure in the region’s history. But, according to the National Park Service: “Slavery did exist at Fort Vancouver during the HBC era — in the Native American Indian form brought into the Village through marriage relations. This slavery was tolerated, but not approved, by the HBC leaders.”
All of this speaks to the fine line that is being walked between honoring the past and simply acknowledging it. Confederate monuments pay homage to traitors who fought against the United States and should be relegated to museums and history books. Some place names harken to a time of racial insensitivity that should be left to the past. And others have nothing to do with racial enmity.
Such in the case with Lynch Meadows school and others near Portland. Officials there missed an opportunity to forge compromise and provide a lesson that some words have multiple meanings.
