Portland to drop ‘Lynch' in school names due to racial implications

A group of Portland schools with the name "Lynch" in them will have the name removed due to racial implications despite being named after a family, according to The Oregonian.

The Lynch family in Oregon donated land over a century ago to build the first of the schools that are now Lynch Meadows, Lynch Wood and Lynch View elementary schools.

Centennial Superintendent Paul Coakley told The Oregonian that many newer families coming into the district associate the name with America's violent racial history.

"There were an increasing amount of questions and some complaints from families of color around the name," Coakley said. "Our diversity is increasing every year, with families coming in from Northeast Portland and out of state, so [the names] needed to be looked at.”

The Oregonian notes no connection between the Lynch family and the practice associated with the term.

But Coakley, who is African-American and grew up in the area, said the name is a disruption for some students.

Members of the mostly-white Centennial School Board agreed, and decided the names should be changed at a board meeting in mid-July. Board members plan to pass a resolution on the discontinuing of “Lynch” at their next meeting in early August.

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