Dear Superintendent Brabrand, Superintendent Pajardo, Assistant Superintendent Baenig, Assistant Superintendent Wilson, Principal Lenart, Senator Petersen, Members of the Fairfax City School Board, and Members of the Fairfax County School Board, 

We write to you today from a grieving nation, one torn apart and angry at the murder of George Floyd. This comes against the largest international health crisis in recent memory, a crisis that has taken the lives of tens of thousands of our fellow Americans, and one that has disproportionately impacted communities of color. 

We write as graduates and/or members of FHS communities, as proud products of Fairfax County Public Schools, and as lifelong residents of Fairfax to request the removal of the Rebel as Fairfax High School’s mascot. The solution is simple; we suggest simply that the FHS mascot be the Lions, the “Home of the Lion Pride”. 

Our concerns are not new. In 1987 Fairfax High School’s mascot, “Johnny Reb,” was removed and, through a series of iterations, became a lion head, officially, the “Home of the Rebels”. This decision was made 33 years ago and it is clear today that it was not enough. 

It is not enough because more than three decades later our nation is still senselessly killing Black and Brown people, many at the hands of police and violence from supposed public servants. We remember just some of their names here:

Armaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. Michael Brown. Eric Garner. Dominique Clayton. Tanisha Anderson. Michelle Cusseaux. Ezell Ford. Walter Scott. Bettie Jones. Philando Castile. Atatiana Jefferson. Natasha McKenna. 

George Floyd.

As responsible stewards of our community, we must use our voices to combat the systems of oppression in the places we call home. This is our responsibility and duty.

Silence and subtle acceptance of systemic racism against Black and Brown people are part of the poison killing America. Fairfax High School’s use of a Rebel as a mascot is a clear and explicit example of the acceptance of systemic racism created by the legacy of the US's confederate past, originally shown in the "Johnny Reb" mascot. We have a duty to call out and demand resolutions for these injustices, which is what prompted this letter. 

We recognize how lucky we are to have been raised in a community with high-quality public schools. However, we also recognize that the very foundations of public education funding in the US stem from racist policies evidenced by practices including redlining, the whitewashing of our curricula, and active policies of segregation in our non-distant past. Indeed, the primary model for funding schools, based on real estate taxes, has racist origins that show the deliberate and constant devaluation of Black and Brown communities throughout US history. We must work to actively deconstruct these systems.

It is unacceptable for students of any race to walk into a school each day with a mascot linked to an institution that once murdered, imprisoned, bought, and sold millions of Black and Brown people in this country, especially when the abhorrent legacies of these institutions remain today. 

This is a public institution with an obligation to represent public values. 

Indeed, this mascot violates Fairfax High School’s own commitment to “awareness, tolerance, and acceptance”, as well as a commitment to provide “a supporting school atmosphere where everyone feels emotionally, physically, and intellectually safe”. We are teaching students that it is okay to support racist institutions as long as we delicately dress them with a lion-headed mask. 

This is unacceptable and we must act now to change this. 

​We cannot pick and choose which vestiges of slavery and its legacies we accept and which we denounce. We applaud the decision to rename JEB Stuart High School as Justice High School in October 2017 and are looking forward to the renaming of Robert E. Lee High school in the near future. We hope the removal of the Rebel mascot continues this momentum to ensure FCPS is undoubtedly on the right side of history. 

​​Let us be clear, this will not solve the problem, but it will steer us in the right direction. We know there are still many other concrete measures our communities can and should implement to begin to heal. We recommend further actions such as: deep curriculum reviews to uncover implicit bias, more thorough exploration of Black and Brown literature and art, a continued push for representation of teachers and leadership (which we know is ongoing), enhanced support for bias training for teachers, students and parents, a more accurate representation of slavery in history textbooks, and field trips specifically dedicated to understanding the legacies of slavery and racism in Virginia and the US broadly.  

​Inaction and silence are forms of action. The complacency of allowing Fairfax High School’s mascot to remain a “Rebel” is an implicit act of acceptance and veneration of the legacies of slavery, the Civil War, and Jim Crow that once ripped America apart. In reality, those insidious systems continue to exist today, and we passively preserve them by not tearing them down completely and decisively. 

We cannot forget this troubled history. No, we must never forget it, lest we forget the important and hard work that is still to come. However we cannot give it power and meaning, which is what maintaining the Rebel mascot does and why it must be removed. 

We expect push back as many folks will question the decision to remove a mascot with such a long history as the “Rebel” for Fairfax and the surrounding community. However, you cannot let this be the reason for inaction. As we learned through our FHS classes, leadership means standing up for what is right no matter the consequences.​ Bold, clear, unwavering leadership and sweeping change are the only ways we can hope to move forward and heal as a community, and as a nation. There is precedent for the removal of a rebel mascot around the country and FHS should follow this course of action.

​​Dr. Brabrand, when you were the Principal at Fairfax High School you served as a role model for so many of us by encouraging us to keep “the main thing, the main thing”. 

Right now, this is the main thing. 

We look forward to your engagement and leadership, and are eager to hear from you. 

With Regards,

David Robertson
Jordan Rummel
Charley Baxter-Gagen
Sam Brott
Laura Goad
Andy Lopez

 & Supporting Members of the Fairfax High School Community