School district votes to fly the Black Lives Matter flag next to US flag

At the school board meeting, one local father stood up in opposition to the flying of the activist flag, to a round of applause. "I come to you today not as a black man but as a human being first," he said.

"So Black Lives Matter, I understand that," he said, "but when do they matter. Do they matter when we're in uniform? Do they matter in law enforcement? Do they matter in the womb? Do they matter when it doesn't—My thing is this, there's a difference between being victimized and having a victim mentality."

He said that what the flag represents is not that black lives matter, but a victim mentality.

The motion to keep the flags up will stay in effect for the span of one year and then will face further review. Students supporting the flying of the activist flag wanted more than just the visual indication of compliance to the BLM message, but advocated as well for diversity, equity and inclusion training for staff, faculty, and school board members.

The September vote was 6 to 3 in favor of leaving the Black Lives Matter flags raised at schools across the district. The flags began were first raised at the beginning of the 2020 school year in solidarity with the nationwide protests for social justice that erupted in the wake of George Floyd's death in police custody in May 2020, local news reported.

A student supporter of the motion stated at the time that the message being sent by those who voted against raising the activist flag is one of acquiescence to racism.

"By voting against raising the BLM flags, what message are you sending to the Black and brown kids who attend the Essex Westford School District? That racism in our community doesn’t matter anymore?" said one student. More than 500 students had signed a petition to leave the flags flying.

Thomas Flemming School Principal Matthew Roy said that "Most of us have never felt the need to remind our community that our lives matter, but most is not all. That’s why we fly the flag—Black Lives Matter." The school is only for fourth and fifth graders.

A student from Essex High said that the equity is "about more than trying to get everyone to the same outcome. Instead, more of making sure people have opportunities to rise to their full potential. Unfortunately, there is a gap in race between school and education."

It was the Essex High School Social Union that was responsible for bringing the motion to raise the flags at schools across the district.

Dissenting opinions cam from Kaitlin Gregory of Essex, who questioning what children are being taught when they see an activist flag flying next to the national flag of the United States.

"What are we teaching our children?" She asked. "Communism is OK? That Black lives are better than white lives and if you don’t support it you're a racist?"

"We support our BIPOC community members," said another local parent in opposition, "but we do not support attacking others’ viewpoints by lifting some up and ignoring and suppressing others."

Only two days after the school board voted in favor of keeping the flag flying, a both the US and BLM flags at the district's Hiawatha Elementary School were cut down and stolen, reported local news. Because this wasn't the first time the flag had been stolen, the school keeps extra flags on hand. The stolen flags were shortly replaced.

In response to the theft, the Essex High School Social Union gave a statement to local news about the BLM flag alone, saying:

"Though we are disappointed in the votes of some of the board members and horrified and appalled by the crimes committed against the flag and our community at Hiawatha, ultimately we are grateful and resolved. We are grateful for the adults who stood by us, the community for lifting up our voices, and the school district for making the right decision and reaffirming that in this community, Black Lives Matter.

"We are resolved to realize the commitment to creating an anti racist community and fostering justice that the flag represents as it waves above us each morning. And we are thankful to our community- all of our community, for gathering under the flag, because everyone who showed up, even those who yelled at us, attacked us and tried to silence us, only ever showed us that justice and history are on our side, and encouraged us to make our voices heard even louder. With love and determination -the EHS Social Justice Union"

The Essex Police Department's Sgt. John Dunn said that the theft "could either be a misdemeanor or depending on value, it could be a felony." He went on to say that "With an incident of the Black Lives Matter flag matter being stolen or removed from the property, it could have a hate crime enhancement added to what the underlying charge would be of a larceny."

Essex High School, Westford School, and Albert D. Lawton all had BLM flags flying prior to the vote. The school district stated that they are "actively working toward being an anti-racist organization through professional development, curriculum analysis, hiring practices, policy review, and other areas of practice that focus to ensure that we are recognizing the assets of all cultures, ethnicities, and races. The need to create equity and repair harm done by oppression to many peoples is a critical part of the vision of EWSD."