The people living in Newburyport have asked the City Council to replace the state flag and seal of Massachusetts, stating that the imagery used promotes the racist history of the state, according to a report published by the Fox News.
As reported by Newburyport Daily News, a resolution was sent to the council on February 27 that asked them to support the Special Commission Relative to the Seal and Motto of the Commonwealth’s work.
The commission had recommended that the flag and seal must be replaced to reflect Massachusetts’ diverse residents. The resolution was referred on the same day to the General Government Committee in a 9-2 vote.
The resolution was pushed by Marianna Vesey and Linda Lu Burciaga, residents of Newburyport, who claim that the change has already been adopted by 55 other municipalities.
Vesey and Burciaga added that the resolution is being considered by dozens of other municipalities.
Vesey stated that the state seal appears to support the idea that White people are “in charge of this world and that “we have to subdue the Native American people” through a “colonising and violent depiction”.
“One of the reasons that we can ignore this so easily is that our White supremacy culture has really allowed for the disappearance of the Native American world. We’re really trying to say that they are not gone. They are here among us, and we really need to not only recognise that but honour it,” she stated.
Burciaga, meanwhile, said that the state flag and seal appear “problematic”. He added that the seal and the flag depict a colonial sword being grasped by a White hand over the head of a Native American person.
WATCH | The U.S. West coast snowfall is ‘Once in a generation event’ I WION Originals
The emblems carry the Latin motto “Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem,” which means, “She seeks by the sword a quiet place under liberty”.
“The belt was patterned by the illustrator after the red flannel belt of (Wampanoag leader) Metacomet, who was the leader of the first native war of resistance against English colonisation,” said Burciaga.
“His severed head was impaled on a pike and displayed in Plymouth for more than 20 years as a war trophy. That’s just one part of the depiction,” he added.
You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.
