School in Virginia trades Confederate general's name for Barack Obama

A Virginia school board has renamed an elementary school from that of a Confederate general to Barack Obama.

The Richmond School Board on Monday voted to replace J.E.B. Stuart's name with that of the nation's first black president, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

Richmond, once the capital of the Confederacy, now has no school named for a Confederate, according to the Times-Dispatch.

The school board previously voted to rename the school and requested name suggestions from students, parents, staff and the community, Richmond CBS-TV affiliate WTVR reported.

About 95 percent of the school's students are African American, according to WTVR.

Stuart was a Union officer from Virginia before joining the Confederacy.

He became known as Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's "flamboyant cavalry chief," according to HistoryNet.com.

Although Lee took full blame for the loss, Stuart became the unwarranted "scapegoat of Gettysburg," for supposedly not providing Lee crucial intelligence on enemy troop movement, HistoryNet.com reported. The accusation was unfounded, according to the site.

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney complimented the school board on its new name for the school.

"A leader we can be proud of," Stoney tweeted late Monday after the vote, referring to Obama.

This story was originally published June 19, 2018 at 1:50 PM with the headline "School in Virginia trades Confederate general's name for Barack Obama."