As many of you know, most of the Portland Public High Schools are named after past U.S. presidents. Some of them are known as our founding fathers, like Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, and they are essential figures in U.S. history. However, many of the names plastered over portland area high schools are tied to slavery, racism, and white supremacy. Men like these should not be put on a pedestal while their acts of racial violence and imprisonment are forgotten as time goes on. Praising these men only excuses their disgusting beliefs and behaviors. Below is a summary of who our past presidents really are, and why Portland high schools should no longer be named after them.

• Thomas Jefferson: Believed people of African descent are biologically inferior, claimed to be against slavery although his mansion was built entirely by slaves, and while he was advocating for an end of slavery he continued to own slaves. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Jefferson
• Grover Cleveland: Passed the Dawes Severalty Act which attempted to assimilate Native Americans. 86 million acres of land were stolen from reservations and sold to white people. https://www.history.com/.amp/this-day-in-history/cleveland-signs-the-dawes-severalty-act
• Benjamin Franklin: He desired a country that was white. In his Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind (1751), he says "why in the sight of superior beings, darken its people? Why increase the sons of Africa,  by planting them in America, where we have so fair an opportunity, by excluding all Blacks and tawny, of increasing the lovely white and red?" https://medium.com/@tsrub88j/benjamin-franklin-founding-father-and-american-racist-6d45929c2450
• Abraham Lincoln: This one may come as a shock, but Lincoln mainly thought slavery was wrong because they were not enjoying "the fruits of their labor". His idea of ending slavery was to deport slaves to West Africa. He also believed whites were superior, opposed interracial marriage, and did not want black people to be able to vote. https://www.history.com/news/5-things-you-may-not-know-about-lincoln-slavery-and-emancipation
• James Madison: He supported the American Colonization Society, which proposed sending African Americans to West Africa. James Madison is the one who authored Federalist Paper 54, which stated that slaves are property as well as people. Very notably, it also states that slaves are to be counted as 3/5. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed54.asp
• Theodore Roosevelt: Roosevelt's administration was not supportive of civil rights for Black people. He believed Black people were intellectually inferior and that they should not have political or social equality. https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/jimcrow/print/p_struggle_president.html
• Woodrow Wilson: Woodrow Wilson encouraged the introduction and passage of discriminatory legislation. In his presidency, he made interracial marriage a felony in DC and pushed segregation. He required people to submit photos of themselves to exclude Black people from government jobs. As a blatantly racist president, he refused to meet with Black leaders and condemn lynching. https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/jimcrow/print/p_struggle_president.html
• Franklin D Roosevelt: FDR was very silent in the discussion of race issues because he did not want to "offend" people of the south. If it were not for his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, civil rights and New Deal legislation wouldn't have come together. https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/jimcrow/print/p_struggle_president.html

Looking back on the racist history of Portland, we must think about the message these high school names are sending. Considering many of these presidents believed Black people were intellectually inferior, yet high schools, places of education are named after them, is repulsively inappropriate. These names must be changed to promote an anti-racist culture.