Florida school board considers whether school should remain named after former KKK leader.

A proposal has been brought forth to the Duval County Public Schools (FL) board to change the name of Jacksonville's Nathan Bedford Forrest High School. The reason? Nathan Bedford Forrest--a former Confederate lieutenant general--was a member of the original Ku Klux Klan in 1866, and potentially its first Grand Wizard.

This isn't the first time the issue was brought up to the board. In 2007, a similar proposal was floated by local citizens, but was voted down 5-2 by board members, entirely on racial lines.

Now, a petition begun on Change.org by Omotayo Richmond, who has a daughter in the school system, is gaining traction. Over 160,000 people from across the country have signed Richmond's proposal voicing approval for a name change, although not everyone in Jacksonville is supportive.

"I believe it's outrageous that this could even be questioned by anybody…that anybody could even come to the defense of this man," Richmond told ABC News. The high school in question was named after Forrest in 1959 when the Daughters of the Confederacy--angered over 1954's Brown v. The Board of Education Supreme Court ruling--urged local leaders to do so.

The defense in keeping the name isn't purely by white southerners claiming tradition, but on Forrest's merits. While a general in the Civil War, Forrest was skilled, although ruthless, often killing surrendering Union soldiers, black and white alike. Later, in the early years of its creation, Forrest became a member of the KKK--and while the historical record is murky, some reports suggest he was the first Grand Wizard.

Where do things gain traction in Forrest's defense? Years later, Forrest renounced his Ku Klux Klax affiliation, and later gave speeches in favor of racial conciliation. In 1875, in a speech to black southerners which the New York Times said was "friendly," Forrest said, "We were born on the same soil, breathe the same air, and live in the same land. Why, then, can we not live as brothers?...We may differ in color, but not in sentiment."

And so we have a quagmire. An old, formerly racist, Confederate general who was part of the KKK--but later changed his belief system--has a school named after him. Do we honor the racist? Do we honor the reformed man? Or do we not honor the man at all?

That's for the Duval County School Board to decide.