The Washington Redskins exposed their hypocrisy recently while tweeting out on #BlackoutTuesday in support of #BlackLivesMatter while continuing to profit off of a racist and derogatory name—Redskins—and a caricature logo of Native Americans. Borne out of a genocidal past, the term “Redskin,” is a word dripping with contempt, racism, and a quite literal reference to blood; advertisements were placed in newspapers on behalf of governments and institutions perpetuating the genocide of indigenous peoples using this term—for example, from the The Winona Daily Republican in Minnesota: “The State reward for dead Indians has been increased to $200 for every red-skin sent to Purgatory. This sum is more than the dead bodies of all the Indians east of the Red River are worth.” While the team may claim that the term is used to honor the purported Native American ancestry of its one-time coach William “Lone Star” Dietz, the team knows full well that the name was changed to Redskin to avoid issues with the Boston Braves baseball team. Further, after an investigation, Dietz was found to have fraudulently posed as indigenous—the name of the football team only dishonors in many ways. Snyder argues that the term is one of honor and of benign origins—it is not. Native American leaders and peoples have been fighting to have the name changed across society, and have succeeded but in this one place. Since 1898, the term has been defined as one used contemptuously. If the Washington Football Team had to change the fight song for racist illusions, why not change the name? To claim that the term “redskins” honors Native Americans defies logic—no one would think to claim that, for example, a football team named for the confederacy honors African Americans. Other teams are named after animals (Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks, Chicago Bears), after numbers (San Francisco 49ers), or after empowering, flattering, mythic characters (New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, Houston Texans). In short, a racial slur has no place in the NFL's lineup. Academic studies continue to show that the name and mascot do not honor Native Americans; to the contrary, the term leads to “lower self-esteem, lower community worth, less capacity to generate achievement-related possible selves, and greater levels of negative effect” amongst Native American youth, perpetuating a cycle of poverty and oppression. The term, with its contemptuous nature, further builds a gap between native and non-native cultures, contributing to intergenerational trauma and continued racism. Leaders, historians, psychologists, and social scientists have concluded that “Native mascots are part of a much larger web of phenomena that contribute to oppression faced by Native Americans and thus it seems clear that these mascots should be eliminated.” While it should be clear, some people seem to be unwilling to see the continued consequences. Everytime the Washington team takes the field, the Redskins name conjures images of brutality. The Washington Redskins, the NFL, the media, and sponsors must discontinue profiting off of a racist trope. Native Americans are not mascots, they are people and are still here. Daniel Snyder cannot continue to muzzle and whitewash a people and history. Words have power. Symbols have power. It is time the media and sponsors cease their complicity in this cultural genocide, and stand with justice—boycott the name until the name changes.

Olentangy Local School District has a long history of not hiring people of color (especially for teaching positions) or providing an intersectional, diversified, honest education to its 21,711 students. As a former student, I can testify to never having had a teacher of color (I attended OLSD from 2nd to 12th grade), never learning about issues that didn’t specifically pertain to white people (severe lack of an intersectional education), lack of a feeling of safety in terms of bullying from students and teachers alike (even as a white student), lack of accountability and punishment for students and teachers who discriminated in any way towards other students. (For firsthand stories from current and former OLSD students in regards to discrimination against them, please see @dearolsd account on Instagram). There is a severe lack of inclusivity for the students who attend any OLSD school from K-12 that happen to not be white, cis-sexual, straight (and, if attending any of the schools in the Powell area) wealthy. The onus should not be on these students to educate their peers and teachers about their oppressions and oppressors; this education needs to come from the teachers in the OLSD beginning in Kindergarten all the way through 12th grade. It is an injustice to the hundreds of thousands of students that have passed through the halls of an OLSD school to have been denied the opportunity of an intersectional education. Going forward, it is imperative that the aforementioned major changes are made to OLSD. Note: This does not look like compulsory blanket apologies/statements made to students and parents of students across OLSD social media platforms. Actions always speak louder than words. It is better late than never to take advantage of the opportunity to properly educate the current and the future students (and staff) of OLSD so that they can all truly flourish.

We - Students, Parents, Family Members, Teachers, & Community Members demand our children see a brighter future - one where they are supported, not criminalized. Time and time again, children in the Kingston City School District have fallen victim to racial profiling, violence, sexual harassment, and trauma at the hands of the police. Due to the lack of Police Accountability, no justice has been served for most of the children who have been harmed. We do not understand why we have police in our schools. The narrative that Police make things safer has been disproved numerous times, An SRO at Marjory Stoneman Douglas never even entered the school during the shooting. Police contact can also hinder children’s educational performance through negative health consequences related to stress, fear, trauma, and anxiety (Geller et al. 2014; Golembeski and Fullilove 2005; Sugie and Turney 2017) The Memorandum Of Understanding between the KCSD and The Police Department says: “Under state law, the SRO shall not serve as a school disciplinarian, as an enforcer of school regulations, or in place of school-based mental health providers, and the SRO shall not use police powers to address traditional school discipline issues.” Despite the contract, the SROs in the schools are routinely involved in disciplining the children - criminalizing them at a young age. The $369,368.90 our district committed to spend in the 19-20 school year to criminalize our children should be used for counselors and education, not to feed the School to Prison Pipeline. We demand: 1. An immediate and permanent cancellation of contracts with Kingston Police Department, Ulster Police Department and all law enforcement. 2. A commitment to reinvest those funds into Mental Health and Community Resources for the children in the district. 3. Investigate all complaints of Police Violence and Misconduct that have been reported to the school district. Please sign the petition and contact members of the KCSD School Board and Superintendent Padalino to support the removal of School Resource Officers from KCSD and the reallocation of those funds towards mental health resources. In Solidarity, R!SE UP KINGSTON

Livonia has an unfortunate history as one of our country’s largest “Sundown Towns” - “all white” municipalities or neighborhoods that practiced a form of segregation by excluding non-whites through a combination of discriminatory local laws, intimidation, policing and violence. We urge the Livonia Police Department to set a higher standard of policing by strengthening accountability mechanisms and securing critical reforms to end police brutality, biased racial profiling, and policing targeting youth and communities of color. It’s time to not only address the racism and inequality that exists in our own community, but to address it with intention and ambition. Be a part of the Livonia Citizens Caring About Black Lives movement by following us at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1183500345325924 Read about the Campaign Zero initiative - https://www.joincampaignzero.org/#vision

There is a concerning lack of awareness around historically significant people and events that directly lend to race relations today, particularly as it relates to the challenges Black Americans face in fighting to bring awareness to the racial disparities in education, healthcare, homeownership, law enforcement interactions, criminal sentencing and much more. Critical omissions in California's educational curriculum perpetuate the misunderstanding of what it means to be American, while simultaneously reinforcing institutional ideologies birthed from White supremacy. California has long served as the trailblazer in progress, and we are looking to our elected officials in education to, once again, set an example by ushering in a more integrated and comprehensive curriculum, offering our bright-minded youth a truer and more holistic sense of who we are and where we come from.

I was born and raised in Glastonbury and received an amazing, world-class education there. All throughout college, I would always wear my Glastonbury Tomahawks sweatshirt because of how proud I was of my home. During college, I befriended a girl who is Native American, and I would find myself pausing every time I wanted to put on my Tomahawks sweatshirt. This sweatshirt was a symbol of a place that I took so much pride in. I thought of my education as progressive and shedding light on the world outside of the four walls of GHS. However, how can a place that I held in such high esteem continue to ignore this offense? What lesson does it teach the students of Glastonbury to continue to use a mascot that trivializes the culture of others? Glastonbury’s community must recognize that their mascot is not appropriate. We cannot use this symbol in good conscience when Native American tribes throughout the country, and here in Connecticut, oppose the use of Native American mascots. We must listen to their opposition, and be good allies by trusting and respecting their stance on the subject. Glastonbury was a wonderful town to grow up in, and I am generally very proud to be from there. Please do the right thing: stop appropriating Native American symbols. “As documented in [...] decades of social science research, derogatory 'Indian' sports mascots have serious psychological, social and cultural consequences for Native Americans, especially Native youth." Change Glastonbury's mascot to one that we can all be proud of. (Link to quote on NCAI's website: http://www.ncai.org/proudtobe)

Stop using black faces in hoodies on ads for your services as it implies that drug addition is a BLACK problem. It is especially important in mostly white neighborhoods to NOT use these kinds of ads because it reinforces racist view unintentionally. At a minimum use both white and black faces in same ads so that it does not automatically cause people to think that the drug problem is a black problem. It reinforces stereotypes that we need to reverse in today's human societies.

This is important because they have a space for all of the other athletics in the school including basics like drama, football, and chess club, but they have failed to put together a spirit club. As we had a dance team about three years ago as spirit leaders, it only makes sense that we bring it back rather than put together a cheer team.

Timing is critical to reduce the rate of infection in Orange County. We should not allow the opinions of a minority of the people acting out with their emotions and threatening officials to drive public policy. Decisions should be made from research conducted by doctors, scientists and investigators. Next steps We are requesting that you and the Orange County governing administration launch an aggressive campaign to inform and educate the community that the Covid-19 Pandemic is not over and why it is strongly recommended that we continue to wear face masks publicly and in places of business. The communication campaign can be broadly diversified via informative TV commercials, targeted advertisements on social media (Facebook, YouTube), blog posts, educational materials mailed to each household, celebrity endorsements, local businesses displaying signs in their buildings, articles in local newspapers with bold headlines that include the words, "strongly suggest wearing face masks," and appearances on local TV news broadcasts and radio stations as well.

It’s Important because a lot of us don’t know our history or what Juneteenth is about. I want this to educate my community because I didn’t really know what Juneteenth was about until I was an adult. I want my community to be celebrated because we built this country.

FCPS claims that they have laid the groundwork as a county that prides themselves on fostering a safe education for students from all walk of life. However, they fail their students and faculty by not taking reports of racial discrimination seriously!

Brigham Young was many things, but he also taught racist ideas that the Church currently disclaims. In 1852, Brigham Young said to the Utah Legislature, "In as much as we believe in the Bible ... we must believe in slavery. This colored race have been subjected to severe curses ... which they have brought upon themselves. And until the curse is removed by Him who placed it upon them, they must suffer under its consequences." Further examples of the racist ideas the Church now disclaims are included in the Church-issued essay "Race and the Priesthood" https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/race-and-the-priesthood?lang=eng. BYU continues to symbolize The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through its athletic programs and national and international relationships and academic programs. We feel that the time has come to choose a symbol that does not constantly remind Black Church members of painful parts of our history. In doing this, we are not seeking to "whitewash" Brigham Young from our history; rather, we feel that our emphasis as a church should be on unifying voices, especially those that the Church and its members have historically undervalued. We submit this petition humbly to those who have the responsibility to make such decisions, and recognize that the "voice of the people" will only be one factor in the process of considering this change. We ask all Church members and friends to consider signing this petition as a show of good faith that we are "looking to the future," a future beyond racism and discrimination and which embraces our brothers and sisters of all races throughout the world. #BlackLivesMatter #LetsTalkAboutUtah Photo by Francisco Kjolseth at the Salt Lake Tribune Thank you to Tasi Young's Special to the Tribune for the impetus to create this petition. https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2020/06/12/tasi-young-time-change/?fbclid=IwAR28xHnnFcvrBr7DzknH5gB0FkOLGvVN2Rh88AL6Gsjdt3wz8_KTMq_lMJo