Portland school board member thinks Evergreen trees tied to lynching

9 news ^

[algore]

In February, a mascot survey was sent to students and staff. They submitted 420 different nominations, said Ellen Whatmore, a teacher at Ida B. Wells who served on the committee to find a new name and mascot. The massive list of potential mascots was narrowed down to just five, with the evergreen tree being the frontrunner.

But just before the Portland Public Schools Board of Education's vote to approve the new mascot Tuesday, March 30, Director Michelle DePass shared community concerns of an unwanted correlation between Ida B. Wells—the historic Black activist, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who documented and crusaded against lynching—and a tree which could conjure up reminders of hanging people with ropes from branches.

[FreedomForce]

Trees in that photo of the school. Better cut those down. /s

[SES1066]

But just before the Portland Public Schools Board of Education's vote to approve the new mascot Tuesday, March 30, Director Michelle DePass shared community concerns of an unwanted correlation between Ida B. Wells—the historic Black activist, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who documented and crusaded against lynching—and a tree which could conjure up reminders of hanging people with ropes from branches.

My old English teachers, the good ones, would have highlighted this and suggested that a 5th grader would have used 'unwarranted' (gratuitous) instead.

[BobL]

“These are the people we entrust to educate the children.”

You should see her bio. No wonder the Dems kicked out asses. The best we do is write papers for think tanks.

[knarf]

Several years ago, Michelle DePass took a seminar from Emerge Oregon that prepares Democratic women to run for office, with the intention of using the training to help other women get elected. But she ended up using what she learned on her own campaign for the PPS Board after she was inspired to try to help a school district she has deep roots in.

Michelle is a PPS productwho graduated from Metropolitan Learning Center. Her mother and grandmother retired from positions at PPS's Martin Luther King Jr. School, and her sister and niece currently work in the district. Her two sons both graduated from Benson High School.

Michelle works as Community Engagement and Policy Coordinator for the City of Portland Housing Bureau. She is a graduate of Portland State University, with a Bachelor of Science in Community Development, and serves on the boards of the Community Energy Project, Oregon Native American Chamber of Commerce and Off the Sideline, which helps low-income youth gain scholarships to participate in team sports.

PPS = Portland PUBLIC SCHOOL ( system )

[PAR35]

I guess they don’t have oak trees up there.

[cnsmom]

Oregon has a rich history of Native American genocide maybe they should focus on that.

[gundog]

Hardwoods, galore.

[Sirius Lee]

She better burn this sh*t down.

Although that would be a drag. A real slow one.

[dfwgator]

[dfwgator]

Paging Robert Smith.

[knarf]

I never knew .. (25 min)

[Sirius Lee]

Yup, and that’s the gold standard as far as productions that I’ve seen online.

[Vaduz]

Portland school board member thinks
OXYMORON

[Dutch Boy]

It’s today’s magic ingredient. I have no idea if it works for what they claim. Most things don’t. Great marketing though.

[Twotone]

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[bray]

Evergreen tree branches go to the ground. You would have to prune it to hang somebody.

[goodnesswins]

Thanks for posting...learn something new every day.