The executive board of the West Spartanburg Branch of the NAACP voted Monday evening to form a committee to explore the possibility of urging Spartanburg District Five Schools to change Byrnes High School’s nickname of “Rebels.”
Passionate testimony for changing and keeping the name rang through St. John Baptist Church in Wellford as speakers took turns addressing a packed crowd in the small sanctuary.
Several hundred others, including Duncan Mayor Lisa Cooley Scott, turned out under a sweltering sun in front of the school in Duncan earlier to show support for keeping the name.
A parade of vehicles waving Confederate battle flags, a few of which were visible at the rally at Byrnes, circled St. John Baptist Church as the NAACP meeting adjourned.
Barbara Jones, the president of the West Spartanburg NAACP and a parent of Byrnes graduates, expects the committee to be formed by the organization’s next regular meeting Aug. 17, with seven to 12 members of the community including past and perhaps present students.
“We need clear-headed, calm input from the community,” Jones said. “Time will give us the opportunity to let the emotions kind of die down and logic take over. That’s why I see bringing in more people from the community.”