Stonewall Jackson High School (Manassas)

Public high school in Manassas, Virginia, renamed Unity Reed High School in 2020. In How to Be an Antiracist (Ibram X. Kendi) it is where the isolated newcomer from Queens slowly finds his feet.

At a glance

Source	Author	Role	In one line
How to Be an Antiracist	Ibram X. Kendi	setting	New school in Manassas where the friendless Kendi is cut from the team and rethinks Black culture.

How to Be an Antiracist — Ibram X. Kendi (2019)

Source: Original · Readwise highlight

I did not have any friends at my new high school in Manassas, Virginia.

• Role: setting
• In the book: After the family moves from Queens in 1997, Kendi is cut from the junior varsity basketball team at Stonewall Jackson High and sobs at home in his father’s arms. Friendless, he looks down on local Black culture such as go-go before coming to respect it, and later joins IB classes.
• Why it matters: The move to a mostly White suburban school sets up his reflections on culture and on how he judged other Black people.
• Real vs. fictional: The school was renamed Unity Reed High School in 2020; the book uses the old name.