Bruce Lee tops poll to rename US schools dedicated to Confederate general Robert E. Lee
- Hong Kong martial arts superstar comes up trumps in Mother Jones vote to replace Robert E. Lee's name at US schools
- Jokey poll comes as schools looking to avoid association with Confederate general name themselves after other Lees to save on rebranding costs
Bruce Lee is the greatest Lee of all. That’s according to an online poll inspired by a trend in US schools looking to ditch their association with the American Civil War general Robert E. Lee.
Robert E. Lee – a white supremacist who fought for the Confederacy of states that wanted to retain slavery – has been memorialised in the names of schools across the southern United States.
But as awareness of racial inequality in the country has spread in the wake of Black Lives Matter and other social justice movements, students and staff alike have become uncomfortable.
That creates a problem for cash-strapped school districts who would have to pay out huge amounts of money – some more than US$1 million – to replace signs, uniforms and other paraphernalia.
And that’s where Bruce comes in.
Rather than wholly rename their schools, some boards are choosing other Lees instead – such as the Robert E. Lee High School in Texas’ North East Independent School District, which was renamed to the Legacy of Educational Excellence (LEE), allowing it to retain LEE High as a name, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“We only changed things that had Robert E., and that significantly cut down on costs,” spokeswoman Aubrey Chancellor told The Wall Street Journal. “Many things could stay as they were.”
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Meanwhile, Robert E. Lee Elementary in the Austin, Texas, school district is now known as Russell Lee Elementary, named for a Depression-era photographer.
Several dozen other districts have dropped the Confederate general’s name from their schools in recent years. Other schools named after Confederate figures were also given new monikers in line with the growing trend.
But what happens when you don’t have a famous local Lee to rename your school after?
To help out, website Mother Jones conducted a poll that would decide once and for all the best Lee for America’s children to study under.
Names on the list included To Kill a Mocking Bird novelist Harper Lee, Marvel creator Stan Lee and Taiwanese Oscar-winning director Ang Lee – even Six Million Dollar Man Lee Majors got a mention. And so too did Lee Harvey Oswald.
It was all in good fun and the result showed the one true Lee: Bruce Lee.
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The legendary martial arts superstar of Enter The Dragon was declared the official winner, picking 22.1 per cent of votes with Harper Lee a close second.
Stan Lee was third closely followed by director Spike Lee, who took home best director for BlacKkKlansman at this year’s Academy Awards.
“I see no downside. What kid wouldn’t want to go to Bruce Lee high school?” wrote Elizabeth Spiers on Twitter.
Whether any American schools will actually take up the challenge and rename themselves after the martial arts hero remains to be seen – but clearly they will have popular support.
