Washington is currently named after a slave owner. We as a state should take it upon ourselves to become an example for the rest of the country in removing the names and symbols of long-standing racism in this country. Some of the proposed names include Cascadia to honor our geographic region, or Tacoma or Salish, to honor our native population.

All over the state we have symbols of George Washington, from the highway markers, to the state seal, to the flag. As somebody who takes great pride in my state, I would take a lot more pride if we became a state that moved past the current iconography, and we instead honored our beautiful region with names like Cascadia, or honored the indigenous peoples whose names we use for countless locations, and whose art we  use in various markers across the state with names like Tacoma or Salish. 

All in the state legislature should strongly consider changing the name of our state to something that we can all be proud of saying when asked where we're from. We have an opportunity to be an example for the future, this gesture is not huge, and we have a long way to go to eliminating racism and injustice in our state, but we can start with this small gesture that says, "We are committed to changing and being pioneers in the fight for racial equality."