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What People are Saying / Tu Opinion

"Definitivamente que estoy de acuerdo. Sería muy beneficio para comenzar un nuevo capítulo de la escuela donde no se usa el nombre de algún que era opresor de minorías."

"For the Native people who live in our community, and for everyone who's ancestors were killed in the name of colonialism and greed, I fully support the decision to rename Sheridan School and Sheridan Neighborhood to names that I can feel proud to say. I hope that the name that is chosen to represent us is one that is relevant to our location (land, people, history), and one that uplifts those who are often left out of being honored including Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color."

The Name Change Task Force has made a concerted effort to listen to our community regarding the potential change, including an initial opinion survey about changing the name where this feedback came from. After rounding down the name suggestions to 6 possible names, we now have a new survey to VOTE on your top name choices.

More Community Feedback...

• Debe ser un nombre que tenga significado en este contexto multicultural.

• There is a lot of good associated with the current name. But a lot of bad reputation as well

• I want our school name to reflect our values or our students.

• The words of Dr. King our my rationale for support:

• "Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of negroes on our shores the scar of racial hatred had disfigured colonial society. From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles over racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe out its indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or feel remorse for this shameful episode. Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exhaust it. Our children are still taught to respect the violence which reduced a red-skinned people of an earlier culture into a few fragmented groups herded into impoverished reservations." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

• Keeping the Sheridan name is that exact glorification of violence and racial hatred. We must ,for ourselves, our children, and all generations to come, begin to feel remorse, move to action, and create a better future for all.

• Once you know truth, do better! Change the name.

• As a former student of Sheridan School and current resident of Sheridan Neighborhood, I support the name change of both Sheridan School and Sheridan Neighborhood away from honoring Philip Henry Sheridan.

• We are living in a time when people are thinking about who we are honoring with our place names and realizing that many old names are no longer representative or welcoming to the communities they are supposed to represent. I am ashamed to say that my neighborhood and elementary school are named after a racist who was a key player in the genocide of Native American people in the United States. It is also important to note that Sheridan may not have even set foot in Minnesota, so there is no historical reason why we should have a School or Neighborhood named after him!

• Our students deserve to go to a school named after someone inspirational who represents them, our community, and the mission of our school.

• We do not need to celebrate or honor this man with our school name.

• I totally support this name change and agree that it is necessary. Thank you for initiating this change!

• Sheridan does not reflect the values or our school community! It shouldn't be a name to be display on public signs.

• No es justo que alumnos asisten a un lugar llamado por alguien que comitio genocidio en contra de los mismos poblaciones que servimos como escuela. Un cambio es por ellos que identifican como indígena, pero tambien un mensaje a todos que no apoyamos este tipo de acciones o personas que apoyan este tipos de acciones en nuestra comunidad y escuela.

• I support the initiative to change the name of “Sheridan” in order for students to feel respected, safe, and comfortable.

• Should not be named after a murderer, it is an insult to everyone especially those that have been directly harmed.

• When a name is used again and again, it becomes part of the landscape. It is easy to forget, ignore or be ignorant of the meaning and history behind the name. When that history is learned, ignorance and inaction become a choice. The history of the man for whom Sheridan is named is repulsive at best. The racism and violence associated with "Sheridan" is anathema to what education, diversity, community and true democracy represent. It is past time to correct this. 1

• Choose a person who has not committed crimes against a group of any people

• I agree with changing the name of Sheridan that affirms our values of welcoming and community.

• It is time to change and redefine the term hero. 1

• I support the change of the name of the school because I believe that Mr. Sheridan was not a person who represented our community, I also think that the name of the school should be something that refers to the love for education.

• I support the School initiative to change the Sheridan name to one that supports the vision and mission of our school and community organization.

• I'd like for our school's name to reflect our values as a school and community, and the students who attend it.

• This is important, because our school should not honor genocidal leaders. We should be actively fighting against white supremacy in the schools. 1

• We have the power to shape the future of our children and community in a new direction. Changing the name of Sheridan allows us to consider what values we instill in the school and to select a name that reflects those values.

• I support the name change. Our schools and neighborhoods names should reflect our values, direct history, and or the people here. We should not be honoring genicide

• Our public schools, which belong to the people and families of the city, should not be named after the architects of the genocide of indigenous people

• I am sure we can find a name that honors a person of great leadership, morals and courage.

• I agree. Lets name our schools after people who embody and believed in racial equality but let's also involved the kids in the process, learning this history could be positive and life changing!

• I am a direct descendant of Irish immigrant settlers that became white in part through service in the United States/Union Army during the US Civil War. I do not have facts about the details of their military service, but I know that my ancestors were at least complicit in the colonial and genocidal violence that the US military and its allies enacted on Indigenous communities and by keeping the name of General Sheridan, Sheridan would unknowingly/knowingly celebrate these legacies of violence and genocide via Sheridan in perpetuity. I do not speak for the communities in and around the school community, but I speak as a descendant/white settler and know that if my ancestors had been brave enough and less ignorant they would have wanted me to speak in support of this name change also. They fled famine and English colonial policies to survive in another land and ended up largely repeating the same violence and oppression they had experienced in their homelands. White folks like me continue to repeat this violence when we stay silent. It's time for the cycle of violence to end. It's time to change the name.

• From reading about Sheridan, there is nothing in his background that suggests schools should be named after him. Sheridan did not support and was not a proponent of education. We should be naming our schools after educational leaders, not military personnel. We should also not be naming schools after people who openly held and propagated racist, oppressive and genocidal views.

• I strongly support the initiative to change the name of Sheridan. As a Native American woman and as a former teacher at Sheridan I am excited that MPS would remove this name because of the historical atrocities that this general helped lead.

• CHANGE THE NAME!

• I believe that Sheridan should have a name that reflects its initiative of dual language.

• Schools should be named after leaders whose lives are reflective of the community and that the students will be proud to research, reflect, and emulate. And today, we need the visibility of leaders who are not white. These leaders should no longer be obscure by others who try to erase history.