A Letter To Medford From Superintendent Marice Edouard-Vincent

MEDFORD, MA – The following letter was submitted by the Medford Public Schools on behalf of Superintendent Marice Edouard-Vincent.

Dear Mustang Community,

Over the past few days, with a heavy heart, I’ve found myself having conversations with my son about worst case scenarios, as well as, with other relatives and friends. The protests this weekend have brought our issues with race to the forefront. This morning, I watched an interview with basketball great and humanitarian, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who said, “Racism is deadlier than the Covid-19 virus.” As the mother of a black son, racism has always been front and center in our lives. As your Superintendent of Schools, I would be remiss to not have a conversation with our entire school community. Protests took place in all 50 states and in England as well. Some of the states had to institute curfews for their citizens’ safety. The right to protest is everyone’s right and I do support a peaceful protest. It is unfortunate that so much violence, destruction and looting is also taking place. The latter I do not endorse and neither did Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Out of all of this adversity, comes an opportunity to make a positive difference and we can do it in Medford.

Chief of Police Medaria Arradondo talked about a “Deficit of Hope” in his City Minneapolis. Please know that although this is still happening, I feel privileged to work in Medford with White Allies who have shown me that they treat me as a human being and respect the diversity that I bring to the table. My goal is to continue to give 100% to all the children of Medford regardless of the color of their skin, race, religion, or identity. We can do better by not repeating what is wrong and equally important–not being complicit when we see something that is wrong. Speak up, Stand up, and make a difference when it needs to be done. We must stand together as one, not apart.

It is gratifying to see our Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn speak up. In her statement to the community, the Mayor said, “I was sickened and heartbroken at the needless loss of life; I was outraged at the callous and reckless behavior by someone sworn to protect the public; and I was frustrated and confused as to how this happened and continues to happen in our country today. In this challenging time in our history, where so many have come together for the greater good, this tragedy was a stark and painful reminder of the deep divisions that exist in American society and how far we must go to try to heal them”.

Medford is lucky to have a police department that speaks up and works with all in the community. Chief John “Jack” Buckley issued a letter to the community,which expressed his sympathies and condolences to the family of Mr. George Floyd. Additionally, he indicated that Mr. Floyd died inhumanely and unnecessarily. As the Chief stated, “As police officers, we are sworn to protect our community and uphold the law. We are sworn to faithfully and impartially discharge our duties. The Minneapolis Police Officers responsible for the death of Mr. Floyd did none of this.”
I want to thank both Mayor Lungo-Koehn and Chief Buckley for their insightful words, as it means so very much. The marches in Boston and around the country have started peacefully, but unfortunately, have not ended that way.

Lastly, as parents and caregivers, I urge you to examine some of these available resources to support you in having important conversations with your children.

USA today interviewed Beverly Daniel Tatum (a psychologist and author of, Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race.)

Tips for parents around talking to kids: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/05/31/how-talk-kids-racism-racial-violence-police-brutality/5288065002/

General resources on race and racism: Teaching Tolerance’s resource collection on Race & Racism

For Elementary Families: Becoming Upended: Teaching and Learning about Race & Racism with Young Children and their Families

They’re Not To Young To Talk About Race http://www.childrenscommunitys...

For Secondary Families: Facing History and Ourselves’ blog post on the death of George Floyd with resource links

This situation will not end overnight, but I want you to know that I will continue to fight for equity and justice for all our students. As former President Obama said earlier today, “If, going forward, we can channel our justifiable anger into peaceful, sustained and effective action, then this moment can be a real turning point in our nation’s long journey to live up to our highest ideals. Let’s get to work!”

In closing, I will leave all of you with a few thoughtful quotes from Dr. King:

“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” And,

“Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that”.

In Partnership for Children,

Dr. Marice Edouard-Vincent, Superintendent of Schools