Dupage Policy Journal

An anonymous group is gearing up to march on Abraham Lincoln Elementary School in Glen Ellyn in an attempt to get District 41 to change the name of the school.

A flyer put out by an unknown organization reads “Public institutions should not be named after white supremacists” and includes a quote from Lincoln regarding his fortune in being born white.

Lincoln, the country’s 16th president, was a state legislator and congressman from Illinois before ascending to the country’s top leadership position.

Photo of an anonymous flyer promoting the event.

Lincoln is responsible for the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which formally abolished slavery.

“This is so preposterous that it must be a hoax," Jeanne Ives, a former state legislator and candidate for Illinois's 6th congressional district said. "Striking Pres. Lincoln's name from a school? We will keep a watch on this to see if it is real. I stand ready to defend President Abraham Lincoln's legacy as the Great Emancipator.”

Others in the community aligned with Ives  regarding the seemingly obvious flawed rationale behind the march.

“I am very opposed, but I thought people should know,” John Mitchell said when posting the listing on the Happening in Glen Ellyn Facebook page.

Mitchell said the march was real when asked by a poster.

“Ummm... isn’t he the one that ended slavery?” Tim Nancy Kehayias said.

Jeff Castle was not so restrained.

“This is abhorrent,:” Castle posted on Facebook. “Do you ever notice it’s always the same people protesting? College-age kids who have almost no responsibility in life but a protest sounds exciting because we’ve been cooped up at home because of Covid so hell yeah let’s get out there and do something exciting.

“Suburban white liberal women who are ‘like super woke n stuff’ Whose husbands pull in 200K+ a year, beta males who Would do just about anything to please their Battle axe of a wife, All of which hate Trump because he’s a racist misogynist xenophobe but have absolutely zero proof of that. Life is too short for this and it’s also not guaranteed, People need to enjoy time with their family and friends and worry about life at home.”

The march is announced to begin at 7 p.m. tonight - Saturday, June 13 - with opening remarks outside of the Lake Ellyn boathouse. The group will then walk to the Glen Ellyn village office, give more remarks and walk back to the boathouse.

A contingent of pro-Lincoln supporters have noted they will be attending the event and host a counter rally with facts about Lincoln’s efforts which culminated in the abolition of slavery.