Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County, Virginia is named after Founding Father and slave owner Thomas Jefferson.

First, the school's name memorialize a notorious slave and plantation owner who, despite writing much against slavery, failed to puts his words into practice and owned around 100 slaves in his Monticello plantation at any given time and more than 600 slaves in total during his lifetime (source). Another example of his "all talk and no action" stance towards slavery was his periods of absence on his plantation that led to his hired overseers cruelly treating the enslaved people (source), and punishment included whipping and flogging. Boys as young as 10 years old (source) who worked in the Monticello nailery were not exempt from this harsh treatment (source).

Second, the school's front facade is itself a replica of Thomas Jefferson's slave plantation Monticello. Given the aforementioned evidence, to have a school modeled after an institution of tortuous and forced labor is wholly inappropriate in today's world. This school and its architecture should promote and glorify good values and virtues, not the terrible system of slavery that Jefferson himself described as a "hideous blot" (source). For those not convinced that the architecture of Monticello was morally depraved in design, one only needs to look at how Jefferson intentionally based his plantation on Italian architect Andrea Palladio's advice: "We must contrive a building in such a manner that the finest and most noble parts of it be the most exposed to public view, and the less agreeable disposed in by places, and removed from sight as much as possible." As a result, Monticello was built into the side of the hill so guests could not see the pain and suffering of the slaves who worked the land and tended the mansion (source).

As such, the school's name should be changed and its front entrance rebuilt. This petition accordingly offers a few suggestions for replacement names:

• Sally Hemings High School (see this opinion article)
• Floyd-Brooks Memorial High School (in light of recent events)
• George Washington Carver High School (famous African American scientist who was best known for his agricultural studies in peanuts)
• Lewis Howard Latimer High School (African American inventor and son of an escaped slave known for his innovative light bulb design)