Latinx activists in Chicago protested renaming a middle school after Barack and Michele Obama on Tuesday.
The activists are against the school board renaming Jefferson Middle School to Barack & Michelle Obama Middle School.
The group protested before a hearing of the Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 Board of Education, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The school board held its first in-person meeting on Tuesday at the Brookside campus of Waukegan High School.
According to the Tribune, they chose not to vote on renaming one of two middle schools after the Obamas.
Another meeting is scheduled for April 13 at 7 p.m. at the Brookside Campus. Latinx activists vow to hold demonstrations at that board meeting as well.
Oscar Arias, a Waukegan native and former student, said Obama deported more than 3 million Mexicans during his two terms. While his successor, former President Donald Trump, deported less people.
Arias said he still remembers the fearful looks on the faces of fellow students who arrived home to find their parents were deported.
He said, the fear in their eyes “still resonates with me.”
Arias suggested renaming the middle school after the late U.S. Congressman John L. Lewis.
“Lewis truly embodies the progressive and multicultural spirit of Waukegan,” Arias said.
