UPDATED, July 16: Amid an ongoing discussion about whether the Arlington High School logo should remove its native-American image, the School Committee has voted to adopt an antiracism resolution signed by more than 30 districts in Massachusetts.
The measure says that “all the school districts in the Commonwealth must guarantee that racist practices are eradicated, and diversity, equity and inclusion is embedded and practiced for our students, families, faculty and staff.” It also says: “[W]e must ensure our own school culture and that of every district in the Commonwealth is antiracist, that acknowledges that all lives cannot matter until Black lives matter.”
All six committee members in attendance voted to adopt the resolution.
“I saw this as just a small but positive step showing the direction that we’re trying to go,” said committee member Kirsi Allison-Ampe. “I like this resolution, because it doesn’t just speak to our district, but it talks about all districts in the state of Massachusetts. Our district should be taking these points to heart, but it’s equally important to be applying them to the entire state.”
20 demands
In a related matter, members had expected to receive a series of demands from black student leaders for a potential vote July 9, but they did not. The demands, dating from the June 20 protest at Town Hall, were to include a request change the school’s Spy Ponder logo.
Committee Chair Jane Morgan said the students are discussing the issues with Arlington High Principal Matt Janger.
Black Student Union alum Doralee Heurtelou told YourArlington that the demands have not formally presented to the School Committee. “We had wanted to present the demands at the [July 9] meeting; however, the meeting did not start on time, and the chance for us to present was lost.
“The demands have been presented to the Arlington High School administration, though, and work is being done there.” The students’ 20 demands and explanation are listed below.
Morgan explained that the public is welcome to speak during public comment at meetings. Because of the limitations of Zoom, they must sign up in advance, by 5 p.m. on the day of the meeting. “Nobody has signed up for comment for our last few meetings, so while one of our meetings did start late due to an unexpectedly long executive session, there was nobody signed up for public comment at that meeting [July 9]. She asked for the Black Student Union or Alumni to reach out.
Heurtelou indicated July 16 she would do so via Karen Fitzgerald, committee secretary.
Some history
In an July 7 email titled “Letter Regarding Use of the Menotomy Hunter,” Janger provided this history of the process:
“On June 1, I sent out a video calling for an examination of racial inequities at Arlington High School. You can see that here >>
“Since that time, I have been holding weekly meetings of students and staff which have evolved into an Anti-Racism Working Group. Secondary administrators also presented to the School Committee on racial disparities in our discipline data.
“During that time, students from our Black Student Union and community members held a rally and presented recommendations for anti-racism efforts in the Arlington Public Schools. These recommendations have been presented to the Working Group. We are systematically reviewing all of these requests and efforts that we can take to improve the school’s role in promoting anti-racism.
“One of the recommendations was to eliminate the use of the Menotomy Hunter image in the school. I have reached out to both the Arlington Human Rights Commission and Native American leadership organizations to develop a process for reviewing our community’s use of images of this Cyrus Dallin sculpture.
Refrain from using
“While we develop that process, I am asking that everyone refrain from using the Menotomy Hunter image in school publications. This is a teachable moment and one that can help us to understand the ways in which our traditions have harmed many in our community.”
Following a competition last year, a new Arlington “A,” without a Native-American image, was approved. You can see it on the fence, draped in red, around the AHS construction site. With the image is an approving message about Black Lives Matter.
Janger’s email continues: “In response to questions, I would like to offer a little context around the use of the Menotomy Hunter image. We are aware of the harmful history of Native American images in sports mascots and branding in this country.
“Over the last 7 years, we have been careful to clarify with our students and staff that our mascot is the ‘Spy Ponder,’ a reference to the inhabitants of the area around Spy Pond following the Civil War. These were ice cutters and farmers.
“The Menotomy Hunter image has been limited to use as a seal, with no other use of Native American imagery. This image is prominent throughout the town and used on the shoulder patches of our police department. We introduced the use of a standard A and recently began developing our own ‘A’ in preparation for the new building project. We planned to work on ‘What’s a Spy Ponder’ in the near future. We do not plan to use the Native American image in the new construction.
“The recent renewed focus on racial injustice is causing many to reevaluate the images we use in our institutions. The confusion over whether the Menotomy Hunter is a mascot shows the potential for harm in our continued use of this Native American image. As we develop the process for a community conversation, I ask that the community take a respectful and reflective pause and cease to use the Menotomy Hunter connected to school while we review the image’s use. We will begin the conversation soon on this and related issues. Our Anti-racism Working Group is hard at work and we look forward to making a positive difference.”
Black students explain
The following statements and listing are from black students:
How we got here: Finally, after countless deaths, Americans are beginning to understand that overcoming racism requires a transformation of the systems, teachings, and structures of our society. Unfortunately, few have been willing to give voice to exactly what changes are needed. Building on the platform of Black Lives Matter, the Black Student Union would like to build a movement for Arlington based on love and justice. We hope these steps will serve as the first of many steps the Town of Arlington will take to address reparations within our community.
Some unsettling truths: Our students of color make up 30% of the student population yet 50-60% of our suspensions.
Based on the most recent data that Arlington Public Schools provided to the Department of Education, 1.4% of white students were suspended, 5.8% of black students were suspended, and 8.0% of Hispanic students were suspended. This is publicly posted online, and based on data that the Town of Arlington supplied, and contradicts the 2.1% percentages shared by the town in their recent refuting of the testimony courageously provided by former APS data specialist Jean Mike Remy where he states the problem and acknowledges he needed to leave APS after the superintendent advised him not to dig too deep into the numbers.
At the time he was only one of two black APS administrators at APS. Let’s note these rates only capture out of school suspensions. They do not reflect detentions and other forms of discipline which would likely reflect even greater disparities. APS also fails to note the disproportionality, students of color are being disciplined at alarming disproportional rates. 25.5% of Hispanic students and 11.5% of black students faced disciplinary action last school year, compared to 1.8% of white students. In fact, the suspension rate had been climbing for the past 4 years and the disproportionality has grown over the past 5 years.
30% of our student population identify as people of color; however less than 10% of our educators identify as people of color.
Testimonial by APS Senior:
“I often feel I don’t belong in a class and there is a fear in raising my hand, in participating. A fear that if I mess up, it will be reflective of the color of my skin; it will reflect and make it harder on all the other black students who are struggling to “represent.” If all of us are afraid to raise our hand in class, hesitant to reach out to a teacher for help, every time one of us hesitates to perform at our fullest, we are one step farther from reaching our full potential. It’s a systemic problem. If the almost 2,000 Arlington Public School students of color all feel the same way I do, all hesitate to raise their hands, because they know the kids that look like them make up a disproportionate percentage of the kids in detention and a smaller percentage of the kids showing up for AP classes, then we do fail thousands of kids.”
~ Doralee Heurtelou, Arlington High School Black Student Union co-chair, AHS alumni
1. Learn the names of studets of color and how to pronounce them.
2. Distribute equal funding across the school PTOs, equal funding for all elementary students no matter where they are located in Arlington, or the income level of the families that are served by those schools.
3. Require courses at every APS level that explain to students the legacy of slavery, the Black American Experience and Black Achievement (from spaces to the White House), Latin Americans, Asian Americans, history of Indigenous peoples, discrimination, ableism, classism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, and their ongoing impact on the lives of all of us today. Such courses will teach techniques to address racism, empathic communication, and insights that help in overcoming racism.
4. Measure and report out to the community discipline data at all the schools, including the elementary school level, not just limited to suspensions but incorporating all student discipline including students that participate in collaborative problem-solving initiatives.
5. Provide yearly dedicated listening sessions for parents of kids of color.
6. Develop a specialized mentor program for lower income students and students of color.
7. Develop a specialized internship program for lower income students and students of color.
8. Update APS District-wide goals with a commitment to have 3/10 staff represent people of color, of which 1/10 are African American, by 2024.
9. Hire an APS Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator, which is the standard in surrounding towns.
10. Fund an APS employee Retention Program, developed with and for teachers of color.
11. Offer bi-annual, outside-facilitated listening & sharing sessions for teachers and staff of color.
12. Mandate annual bias and/or cultural competency training for all APS administrators, teachers and staff, school committee members, and students.
13. Increasing family salary levels to qualify as economically disadvantaged, in order to qualify for waivers, etc.
14. Develop preventative programs for students of color to mitigate the need for suspensions and detentions.
15. Develop an affordable housing program for highly desired APS teachers.
16. Track and report how many students of color transfer out of APS each year.
17. Develop a feedback and incident portal that allows parents to anonymously report microaggressions and racially biased interactions and have them documented (incident reports based on bullying model). Surrounding communities like Cambridge have a model for this.
18. Create a subcommittee on Arlington’s school committee to deal with disparity gaps as well as diversity and inclusion issues.
19. Transform the fence on the outside of Arlington High School into an Art Installation/Mural. It would be a place where residents of Arlington could come together and recognize the power of the movement. We are also asking for a banner stating ‘BLACK LIVES MATTER’ to be hung outside of the Robbins Library.
20. Replace Arlington’s racially derogatory Native American mascot.
Plea from NAACP
Separately, in a July 13 news release, the Mystic Valley Area Branch of the NAACP https://www.mva-naacp.org/ called for changing “mascots” at Arlington and Winchester high schools.
“As we continue through this tumultuous year, in which we have seen the death of various Black citizens at the hands of police officers and vigilantes, we have also witnessed the
call to purge symbols that have allowed racism to permeate throughout our society for hundreds of years,” the release says.
“We have seen NASCAR and the state of Mississippi do away with the Confederate Flag, we have seen statues of Christopher Columbus topple down, and symbols depicting African Americans in a negative light removed. Institutional racism in America is not exclusive to African Americans. A major example happened just this past week as we saw the prominent sponsors of the Washington Redskins calling for the name of the historic professional football team to be changed. This change is long overdue.”
The NAACP asked for changing Winchester’s Sachem and the AHS Spy Ponder, which the release called “mascots.” The group said both schools “should get ahead of the pending state-level legislation on mascots and the state flag and seal.
In 2020, the 400th anniversary of the arrivals of Colonists to the Americas, “we must maximize antiracism work to usher us into a better tomorrow.” The New England Area Conference of the NAACP, which represents all branches in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, has endorsed adoption of the entire Mass. Indigenous Legislative Agenda, including bill S.247, H. 443 to prohibit the use of Native American Mascots in Public Schools in the Commonwealth and bill S.1877/H.2776 to redesign the seal and flag for Massachusetts.
ACMi: Dr. Matt Janger: Statement about racism
July 15, 2020: Now that Redskins have retired name and logo, some wonder when Mass. high schools will do the same
This news summary by YourArlington freelancer Julia Preszler and Bob Sprague was published Wednesday, July 15, 2020, and updated July 16.
