The Madison Metropolitan School Board erased the name of Hmong General Vang Pao from a new elementary school Monday night, after he was charged earlier this month with trying to overthrow the government of Laos.

Twelve days after the board broke ground for the school named in his honor, federal prosecutors in California charged Vang Pao and others with plotting to takeover the Laotian communist government.

Prosecutors contend Vang Pao masterminded the plot, which involved raising money to recruit a mercenary force and equipping a small army to launch coordinated attacks using anti-tank missiles, grenade launchers and C-4 explosives.

On Monday evening, the Madison School Board addressed requests made over the last several weeks to revisit naming the school being built on the city's far southwest side.

"We have to make sure there is not a lot of controversy surrounding a school where children will attend," says Board President Arlene Silveira.

General Pao led Hmong fighters in a U.S. supported covert war during Vietnam and is a hero in the Hmong community. Now those who submitted his name to the district say they are offended.

"My question would be was it because of our race?" asks Doua Vang. "If General Vang Pao would be a white man would it be different?"

The board voted unanimously to rename the school, but not everyone agrees on how do it.

"It would seem to me that the proper thing to do would be to go back to the three remaining names to select a name for this school," says Mary Reid, a parent of three children who attend Madison schools.

"It is unfair to those who brought forth the name," says Earnestine Moss. "I believe that they should have given that group the opportunity to go back and bring forth a name that was acceptable."

Instead, the board voted to start the entire process over and has plans to amend the policy that outlines the naming of schools for the district. The only dissenter in that vote, board member Johnny Winston, Jr., reminded others of the issues on the inside of the building, rather than the name on the outside.

"This issue has truly polarized our community along racial lines, along community lines," says Winston, Jr. "I hope that we can recover from this and start healing."

People who submitted names before are asked to do so again. Board members can now submit amendments to that policy we mentioned.
They will be discussed and voted on at the July 9th school board meeting.