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<p class="MsoNormal">Hi Sandra,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thank you for being willing to step forward on a topic that I know can frighten some people.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I kept looking for more information and found this page on the Perkins website, with the following passage:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif">Today, Perkins School for the Blind acknowledges that our school’s founding financially benefitted from both the
slave trade and opium smuggling, and acknowledges the pain caused by this, particularly to those in Black and Chinese communities. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif">The founding of Perkins highlights complex issues around slavery, race, and profit derived from the exploitation
of enslaved and marginalized people. As we look to our future, it is our responsibility to acknowledge our past. Perkins is committed to confronting the truth about the people and history of our institution so as not to perpetuate narratives that obscure or
diminish inhumane treatment of anyone or any group of people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.perkins.org/thomas-h-perkins/">https://www.perkins.org/thomas-h-perkins/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This tells me that the leadership of Perkins is already aware of at least some of the history, though it notably leaves out the enslavement of Indigenous people. Many of the Indigenous people of Massachusetts who didn’t die from European
diseases or attacks were captured and sold into slavery in the Caribbean, including the Dominican Republic. Still, I think this page on their site is actually a step in the right direction, but why continue to honor a namesake when you know that he did these
things?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, the question remains: should we do anything about this?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Justin<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Justin Salisbury (he/him)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">2117 Chestnut Hill Ave<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Athol, MA 01331<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Phone: 808.797.8606<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Email:
<a href="mailto:President@Alumni.ECU.edu"><span style="color:blue">President@Alumni.ECU.edu</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> Sandra Burgess <sandraburgess@msn.com> <br>
<b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, June 28, 2023 3:48 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> NFB of Massachusetts E-mail List <massachusetts-nfb@nfbnet.org><br>
<b>Cc:</b> Justin Salisbury <PRESIDENT@alumni.ecu.edu><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Massachusetts-NFB] Possible Initiative for Our Affiliate<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Now, while I spent some years at Perkins school, for the blind, this is the first time I’ve ever heard that part of its history. What I do remember is that every year we celebrated the man who began the first kindergarten for blind children
and worked at Perkins. Somewhere along the line, I also learned that Perkins was originally either called an asylum, or an institution. Well, I understand your point, I do not think we need to completely write history. What I do believe is that it is good
for people to know , correct history. In my opinion, there are other things more important for our affiliate to take on.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks for posting this,<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Sandy. <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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On Jun 28, 2023, at 3:23 PM, Justin Salisbury via Massachusetts-NFB <<a href="mailto:massachusetts-nfb@nfbnet.org">massachusetts-nfb@nfbnet.org</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hi everyone,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have an idea for an advocacy initiative that we could take on as an affiliate. I am wondering if it is something that lots of members in our affiliate would be interested in addressing.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Many of us are familiar with the Perkins School for the Blind, but I bet most of us do not know who the school is named after. His name was Thomas Handasyd Perkins. Here is a Wikipedia article about him:
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Handasyd_Perkins">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Handasyd_Perkins</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">According to the Wikipedia page about him, he was one of those rich boys who received lots of money from his grandfather and father-in-law, and then he found some really nice things to do with that money. According to the Wikipedia article,
he became a slave trader and opium smuggler. According to the article, from these activities, he amassed a greater fortune and then used that to philanthropically support the Perkins School for the Blind, the Boston Museum of Fine Art, McLean Hospital, and
Massachusetts General Hospital. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I imagine there are a lot of people who have appreciated some of the work of some of these institutions that he may have supported with donations. If we think about the Perkins School for the Blind today, though, there seems to be a real
contradiction between being a school that is supposed to provide services to a diverse group of blind students and being named after a guy who got rich as a slave trader. Being a school named after a slave trader undermines the equal treatment of people of
color at the Perkins School for the Blind and the blind community in Massachusetts more broadly; this is a rigid fact regardless of our political persuasion.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now, the question that can have multiple answers is this: Do we want to do anything about it? I understand that we all have our priorities. Since the Red Sox are terrible this year, we all have a little bit more free time this summer. Do
we want to raise this conversation? Do we want to talk to the Perkins School for the Blind about renaming?
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I think this would be a good thing to do, but I’m interested in taking the temperature of our affiliate members before trying to do anything about it.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks, everyone,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Justin<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Justin Salisbury (he/him)</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">2117 Chestnut Hill Ave</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Athol, MA 01331</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Phone: 808.797.8606</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Email:
<a href="mailto:President@Alumni.ECU.edu"><span style="color:blue">President@Alumni.ECU.edu</span></a>
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">_______________________________________________<br>
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