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Civil rights group to petition renaming of Robert E. Lee Elementary in Long Beach

A civil rights group plans to deliver a petition to Long Beach school district officials Monday afternoon demanding that an elementary school named after Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Confederate Army, be changed.

"The petition is endorsed by many local civil rights leaders and is signed by dozens of concerned citizens," said Pedro Baez, political director of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable.

The request comes a week after the civil rights group launched an online campaign to pressure officials to change the name of the Long Beach school.

The school, along with another in San Diego, are the latest targets of a nationwide movement to remove symbols of the Confederacy from public facilities.