On February 1st, Montpelier High School in Montpelier, Vermont, was the first high school to raise a Black Lives Matter flag in honor of the first day of Black History Month.
With the help of the student-led Racial Justice Alliance (RJA) club, the school board voted on January 17th in support of raising the flag. With only 18 black students as part of the 350 student population, RJA consists of many black students that attend the high school. RJA’s goal is to demonstrate their support of equal rights for black students to a predominantly white area.
Another goal of RJA is to show that Black Lives Matter is not only about how black people or any person of color is treated by the police, but it also focuses on other realms like education. Education in itself is a privilege and all people should have the right to get the opportunity to seek a proper one.Source: CNN.com.
Vermont has a history for being a forthcoming state in the fight for civil rights. A news release from the school states, “Our state was the first to abolish slavery in its constitution, and the first to enroll and graduate a black student, who subsequently served in the state legislature. The school board’s decision to fly a Black Lives Matter flag builds on that legacy.”
Raising the Black Lives Matter flag has received backlash, but the overwhelming support has overshadowed it. With the flag up, RJA hopes to bring in much needed dialogue into communities like their own and improve racial tensions.
The flag will be up for the entirety of the month of Black History Month.