After district officials sent a memo informing school faculty they couldnβt visibly express their support for Black Lives Matter, students at a Maine high school decided to protest.
According to CNN, an official for Scarborough Public Schools District sent a memo on Monday, informing teachers that they couldnβt wear clothing or display items that had controversial phrasesΒ such as βWhite Lives Matter,β Biden/Harris campaign slogans, and βBlack Lives Matter.β Students at Scarborough High School were upset with the inclusion of βBlack Lives Matterβ on that list and decided to protest.
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On Tuesday, a group of students stood outside of the town municipal building with signs that had phrases such as βRacism Is Still Taking Livesβ and βWhy Is Demanding Equality Controversial?β Students at the protest told reporters that they feel Black Lives Matter is an apolitical movement to combat racism.
βYou canβt choose what race you are. You can choose your opinion on certain political stances, but because it is about someoneβs race, that doesnβt make it political,β senior Mia Golder told WMTW.
βI really donβt know where this is coming from and quite frankly, I think itβs absurd they would ask us not to say or wear Black Lives Matter,β senior Casey Maddock told WGME. The memo, sent exclusively to faculty, was an election reminder and also included βMake America Great Again,β and βTrump/Penceβ on the list of banned phrases.
βI believe that Black Lives Matter is a human rights issue. It is not political and therefore has every place in our schools,β Maddock added.
Okay, so, maybe Gen Z is going to be alright after all. Fingers crossed.
Following Tuesdayβs protest, the superintendent for Scarborough Public School, Sanford J. Prince IV, issued a statement apologizing for the inclusion of Black Lives Matter on the list.
βAs I now reflect on a communication that was shared by our curriculum director to staff yesterday, I understand that the reference to the phrase βBlack Lives Matterβ was offensive to many people who read the memo,β Prince wrote. βPlease know that inclusion of that phrase was not at all intended to be a statement to make any member of the community feel less valued in any way and we are deeply apologetic for that.β
Prince added that the district needs βto better educate and equip ourselves to have these conversations.β He told CNN that the students were peaceful and very respectful during the protest.
βThatβs what we really want our students to do,β he said. βWe want to teach them that when they feel passionate about something, they can get motivated and bring about change.β
The student protesters hope theyβll be able to discuss future policy changes with the school board. Itβs unclear whether the phrase βBlack Lives Matter,β was taken off the list of banned phrases.
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