December 2, 2020 Edward H. Sebesta XXXXXX Dallas, TX 75xxx edwardsebesta@gmail.com Justin Henry President Dallas Independent Board of Trustees Board Services Office 5151 Samuell Blvd. Dallas, TX 75228 Dear Mr. Henry: Please find enclosed a Dallas Herald article about the “Antebellum Negro Village.” This was a show in which African Americans played being happy slaves in the slave quarters of a plantation before the Civil War. The first two pages is the add for the State Fair of Texas which ran multiple times in 1898. You will not that W.H. Gaston is the president of the State Fair where they are having this human zoo, the “Antebellum Negro Village,” as an exhibit. I am not sure how a school name could possibly express more contempt for the humanity of African Americans than a school named after a person who offered a human zoo, the “Antebellum Negro Village,” for entertainment. I suggest that the W.H. Gaston Middle School be renamed as soon as possible.
Sincerely Yours,
Edward H. Sebesta
P.S. I will be uploading information on schools to http://templeofdemocracy.com/disdschool-names.html. It will be sometime in Dec. 2020. CC: DISD trustees, Dan Miccichie, Edwin Flores, Karla Garcia, Dustin Marshall, Maxie Johnson, Joyce Foreman, Ben Mackey, Miguel Solis.