USA TODAY
An Atlanta school that had been named after a Confederate general will be renamed after the late Hall of Famer and former Atlanta Braves slugger Hank Aaron.
The Atlanta Board of Education voted unanimously to change the name of Forrest Hill Academy to the Hank Aaron New Beginnings Academy. It is very important that we understand our history, board member Michelle Olympiadis said during the meeting. It’s very important that we understand where we are coming from.
The school had been named after Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army and also became known for being one of the founding figures of the Ku Klux Klan. He eventually became Grand Wizard of the organization.
“It was just Henry Aaron being Henry Aaron,” House said. “I remember in Cincinnati when he opened up there, kind of being this pushing him, ‘What if you hit the tying home run Friday? Are you going to play Saturday or Sunday? What happens this? What happens that?’ And he was like, ‘Look, I’m here to play baseball. I’m going to play baseball, and what happens, happens.’ Unflappable. He may have been really nervous inside or frustrated, or whatever. He never showed us as teammates.”
House had met Aaron years before after signing with Atlanta as a minor leaguer in 1967.
“A lot of things have happened in this country,’’ Aaron said, several years after Barack Obama became the country’s first Black president, “but we have so far to go. There s not a whole lot that has changed. We can talk about baseball. Talk about politics. Sure, this country has a black president, but when you look at a Black president, President Obama is left with his foot stuck in the mud from all of the Republicans with the way he s treated. We have moved in the right direction, and there have been improvements, but we still have a long ways to go in the country. The bigger difference is that back then they had hoods. Now they have neckties and starched shirts.’’