Barack Obama Will Replace Jefferson Davis’ Name On Mississippi School

A predominantly African-American public school in Mississippi named after Confederate leader Jefferson Davis will be renamed in honor of former president Barack Obama.

Davis Magnet International Baccalaureate Elementary in Jackson — currently named for Jefferson Davis, a former Confederate leader — will be renamed Barack Obama Magnet IB, USA Today reported Wednesday.

President Janelle Jefferson announced the name change at the Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday after school stakeholders voted Oct. 5 to rename the school after the 44^th president of the U.S.

The school, which is 98 percent black, wanted the name change "to reflect a person who fully represents the ideals and public stances consistent with what we want our children to believe about themselves."

"Jefferson Davis, although infamous in his own right, would probably not be too happy about a diverse school promoting the education of the very individuals he fought to keep enslaved being named after him," Jefferson said during the meeting.

The name will officially change during the 2018-19 semester and was suggested by a student, Jefferson told NBC News.

"They know who [Davis] was and what he stood for," she said. "This has a great impact on them, because [Obama] is who they chose out of anybody else they could. This is the person that the whole school supported. He was their Number One choice."

The PTA requested that the Davis Magnet community propose new names for the school, she said. Faculty, students and parents were given two weeks to agree on a new name, which they decided Oct. 6.

"Every generation has a right to choose how it represents itself," Jake McGraw, public policy coordinator the University of Mississippi's William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, told NBC News. "Having a school where there was input from parents, teachers and students — along with the school board — it seems like a model for how these decisions should be approached across the country."

After researching potential candidates and holding presentations on them at a meeting before the vote, students picked Obama — someone they felt shared their principles, Jefferson said.

"When you realize who this school is named for, I think that it's a positive thing to be a part of this movement," Jefferson added. "We want what's best for our kids. We want our kids to identify with persons who they can relate to."

The name change comes during a national debate over the removal of Confederate statues and memorabilia in public spaces across America. It was said that some statues and monuments were racially insensitive in honoring leaders who once advocated slavery.

The debate took center stage during massive Aug. 12 protests that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia, during which one woman died and 19 others were wounded.