ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — A federal judge has sided with the Virginia NAACP in its lawsuit against a county school board’s reinstatement of Confederate military names to two schools, saying the decision discriminated against Black students and ordering the board to change the schools' monikers again.
In an opinion filed Thursday in U.S. District Court of Virginia, Judge Michael F. Urbanski said the school board in Shenandoah County violated Black students’ rights under the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause, which forbids racial discrimination in state-supported institutions. The decision also violates the Equal Educational Opportunities Act, the court found.
Confederate army officers' names are “vestiges” of Shenandoah County's segregationist history that required separate schools for Black and white students.
“The Confederate names were restored with complete awareness of their historic legacy and ongoing discriminatory impact,” Urbanski wrote. “In the court’s view, the affirmative act of reinstating these vestiges of segregation is far more problematic than a passive failure to remove a long-standing name or symbol.”
The judge ordered the board to settle on new school names “on a racially nondiscriminatory basis with all deliberate speed.”
Unlike memorials named after Confederate figures, schools are places where children should have an “educational environment free of vestiges of racial discrimination,” Urbanski added.
Jim Guynn, the attorney representing Shenandoah County, did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment.
In a statement Friday, the NAACP Virginia State Conference called the ruling “a decisive victory" for students.
“For decades, the practice of honoring Confederate leaders in Virginia schools has been steeped in a history of racial discrimination,” said its president, the Rev. Cozy Bailey. “The school board’s 2024 renaming decision is impossible to explain except through the lens of race."
The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs represented the NAACP.
“The court acknowledged that such names inflict real, racially disproportionate harm," said Kaitlin Banner, deputy legal director.
The Virginia NAACP filed the suit on behalf of six students and their parents in June 2024 after the school board voted 5-1 to change Mountain View High School back to Stonewall Jackson High School and Honey Run Elementary back to Ashby-Lee Elementary, which combines the names of Gen. Robert E. Lee and Turner Ashby, a Confederate cavalry officer. The board reversed a 2020 decision to remove the original names against a backdrop of nationwide protests over racial injustice.
The NAACP argued in its lawsuit that Black students, who make up less than 3% of the school system’s population, would be “required against their will to endorse the violent defense of slavery pursued by the Confederacy and the symbolism that these images have in the modern White supremacist movement.”
Under President Donald Trump's second administration, some statues honoring Confederate figures have been restored after being removed in 2020. It is part of Trump's ongoing efforts to control how American history is framed at Smithsonian museums, monuments in national parks and in classrooms.
Board members who voted to restore the Confederate names said they were honoring popular community sentiment. They said the previous board members who voted to remove the names in 2020 had ignored constituents and due process on the matter.
FLE - A crew removes the statue of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson, July 1, 2020, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) — Detroit Lions Pro Bowl running back Jahmyr Gibbs finally got what he wanted.
A record-setting contract brought financial security, but for Gibbs, it also ended an anxious wait that had kept him off the practice field.
“This process has been extremely stressful,” Gibbs said Friday, one day after signing a three-year contract extension that made him the highest-paid running back in NFL history. “I just wanted to play ball. I missed being out there with my teammates and coaches and it’s just fun being out there now.”
The extension, agreed to Thursday, is worth $67.5 million over three years and could reach $75.75 million with incentives. It includes $51.5 million in guaranteed money, according to multiple reports, surpassing the deal Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson signed earlier this week.
After signing the contract, Gibbs participated only in individual drills Friday, but said the biggest relief was putting the negotiations behind him.
Three years ago, many questioned whether the Lions had reached by selecting a running back with the 12th overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft.
Gibbs said the criticism never bothered him.
“For me, I didn’t really care, because I knew what I could do, and I was confident in myself,” he said.
Three seasons into his career, Gibbs has put together one of the most productive starts by a running back in NFL history.
Despite sharing the backfield with David Montgomery, Gibbs has scored 49 total touchdowns in his first three NFL seasons, the most by any player during that span. He broke the previous record of 47 set by Hall of Famer and former Lion Barry Sanders.
Last season, Gibbs totaled 1,839 yards from scrimmage, including 1,223 rushing yards and 616 receiving yards, while scoring 18 touchdowns. He also set career highs with 77 receptions, 616 receiving yards and five touchdown catches.
Since entering the league, Gibbs has rushed for 3,580 yards — seventh-most in the NFL during that span — while averaging 5.3 yards per carry. He has topped 1,200 rushing yards in each of the past two seasons and caught at least 50 passes in all three years.
Lions Associate Head Coach Scottie Montgomery said Gibbs earned the extension through both his production and his professionalism.
“He has came in from day one and did everything we asked him to do,” Montgomery said. “He is what a pro should be.”
Montgomery said Gibbs has continued to improve each season while maintaining the same approach that made him the 12th overall pick.
“I hope a lot of kids, a lot of people are watching the way that he went about the process,” Montgomery said. “Going from year one to year two to year three and continually getting better.”
Montgomery also pointed to Gibbs’ versatility as one of the reasons he has become such an important part of Detroit’s offense.
“When you got a guy like Jah, you can be a bell cow and touch it 10 times and have 200 total yards,” Montgomery said. “He can play at the receiver position. He can play at the wing position. He can play at the back.”
Gibbs said he heard from several fellow NFL running backs after agreeing to the extension, including Robinson, Montgomery, Derrick Henry, Jonathan Taylor, Christian McCaffrey, James Cook and De’Von Achane.
Gibbs said signing the extension also means he gets to remain in a city he has embraced since arriving in 2023.
“Before I got here, everything you hear about Detroit is negative," Gibbs said. "Since I’ve been here, all I can say is positive things. The people, there’s a lot of good food, the culture.
“I love being here. I’m so glad I get to be here for the next five years.”
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Detroit Lins running back Jahmyr Gibbs runs the ball during practice at the NFL football team's training camp, in Allen Park, Mich., Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Detroit Lins running back Jahmyr Gibbs runs a drill during practice at the NFL football team's training camp, in Allen Park, Mich., Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Detroit Lins running back Jahmyr Gibbs runs a drill during practice at the NFL football team's training camp, in Allen Park, Mich., Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
