Editor, Gazette-Journal:

The Mathews Chapter of the NAACP stands with our sister, Kamilah Turner, in calling for the renaming of Lee-Jackson Elementary School. All across Virginia, the remnants of glorifying the Confederacy are disappearing. Mathews County must join in this march toward progress and reconciliation.

To those who insist that racism does not exist in Mathews County, I must tell you that you are wrong. People of color and other minorities face racism in big and small ways every time we step outside our doors, every time we turn on our TVs, and log on to the internet. The dominant American culture is based on white supremacy, and Mathews is no exception to this truth.

For the residents of Mathews who have no desire to honor two Confederate generals, having their name on our elementary school is a daily message that our opinions do not matter.

The Confederate flags at two of the entrances to Mathews remind us that we are not welcome here. The Confederate statue ...