SACRAMENTO, Calif — School board members with the Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) heard the effort to rename three schools in the district including Sutter Middle School during Thursday's board meeting.
"We all pass by Sutter Middle School all the time, it's right in the middle of town. And when the statue came down it made me think, 'Why is Sutter Middle School still named Sutter Middle School?' and 'Why do these kids still have a horrible name associated with where they go to school,'" said mother of two, Emily Mizokami.
According to historical articles, Sutter enslaved hundreds of Native Americans and was even reportedly violent toward some of them.
Mizokami started a petition on change.org to rename the school.
"Now's the time. If not now, when?" she asked.
On the petition website, she wrote, "The statue is gone, let his name be erased from the halls of such a successful and treasured school."
"You know, I know that changing the names of schools and tearing statues down will not end racism in our country, but at least it will chip at that foundation of systemic racism that the system is built on," Mizokami said.
Now the SCUSD is hearing this effort started by Mizokami and backed by several Native American leaders in the area, who all wrote letters to the school board in support of it.
A committee will be formed and they will vote next February on new name suggestions for three schools: Sutter Middle, Kit Carson, and Peter Burnett schools.
Kit Carson was responsible for waging a destructive war against the Navajo tribe. And Peter Burnett? He was friends with John Sutter.
"What teacher wants to explain to their students when they ask who is Peter Burnett, or who is John Sutter? Oh, Peter Burnett had slaves and wanted to get rid of all California Indians. So are we going to keep whitewashing it? I think the time for that is over," Mizokami said.
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