If you’ve been to any events at the Merrimack Valley High School campus, you might have noticed that the racist image abandoned by the school years ago has slowly been making a comeback.
I know that some alumni feel comfort in seeing the mascot, as I have often heard “Once an Indian, always an Indian.” The truth – we should have never had this mascot in the first place. It is a form of racial bullying.
At the October board meeting, I asked the board to ensure all images are removed. The newest installations, immediately, and others like the gym floor, before the start of the school year in 2020. I also asked that leaders who chose to reintroduce this image participate in cultural competency learning; it is unacceptable that in 2019 highly compensated administrators don’t understand the impact of this image.
At the November board meeting, I learned that board members were asked to take a tour to look at the “artifacts” that one board member described as “important to our history” so that a decision could be made at the December board meeting about whether to take them down. The decision they make will be to allow racial bullying to continue in this form, or to walk their talk and live up to their bullying policy.
I encourage MVSD voters to contact their board members and the superintendent ahead of the Dec. 2 meeting to tell them to do the right thing.
CARISA CORROW
Penacook