A high school in Vermont’s capital city will hoist the flag of Black Lives Matter in honor of February’s Black History Month.
The Burlington Free Press reports Montpelier High School will be raising the BLM banner after the Montpelier School Board gave its unanimous approval.
The board’s decision follows made a presentation made at last week’s school board meeting by the student group Racial Justice Alliance.
“Vermont has a long history of being at the forefront of civil rights movements,” a news release from the school says. “Our state was the first to abolish slavery in its constitution, and the first to enroll and graduate a black student, who subsequently served in the state legislature. The School Board’s decision to fly a Black Lives Matter flag builds on that legacy.”
In its board appearance, Racial Justice Alliance noted raising the flag would be part of “a wider campaign of growing awareness and making changes to the school’s curriculum, climate and ‘shared understanding of the need for racial justice.'”
“And yet, we need to do more to raise our predominantly white community’s collective consciousness to better recognize white privilege and implicit bias,” the Racial Justice Alliance’s statement said.
The group added, “We will raise the flag with love in our hearts and courage in our voices. We reject any purported connections to violence or hate that may or may not have occurred under the Black Lives Matter flag. We recognize that all lives do matter, but in the same spirit, not all lives are acknowledged for their equal importance until black lives have been.” …
“In taking this step the board and administration recognize student leadership and their desire for support,” said Superintendent Brian Ricca in a statement.
The School Board recognizes that some members of the community might not agree with its decision. Board members welcome those people to engage in a “constructive and peaceful dialogue, in the hopes of deepening our shared understanding of race and privilege in our education system and broader community.”
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IMAGE: Teacher Dude/Flickr
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