Status: Closed — this petition is no longer accepting signatures.
Final supporters
Hi guys! We’re sure that most of you are aware of the imperialism mural which is located on the right side wall of the history wing. It was created about 15 years ago by former Governor Livingston students with a former teacher. As founders of the new Student Activism Club at Governor Livingston, we feel it is our duty to make a change by countering the negative stereotypes that this mural portrays.
One of our main goals as a club is to make the school a more open minded and progressive environment where all students and faculty feel welcomed. We believe that this mural fails to welcome different groups of people through its negative portrayal of represented ethnic groups. This mural was created over 15 years ago, and times and perspectives have changed. We now understand that what is depicted on this mural is not respectful, nor is it politically correct.
The depictions of black, Native American, and Asian culture is offensive and the stereotypes are frankly outdated and wrong. We want to ask you, why has this mural been kept up and tolerated for so long? We would like to address the student body to acknowledge that this is not acceptable. Minority communities need to be better appreciated and represented at our school. We believe that repainting this mural would be a step in the right direction.
We know Governor Livingston is capable of making this change and we would like to achieve it as soon as possible. In the future, we plan to partner with the art club to design and repaint the mural in order to more openly and accurately express what occurred globally during imperialism. We want to express the dangers of the racial stereotypes depicted in this imperialism mural. Please know that as students, it starts with you.
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Take Down Griffith Mural
Love,and a safespace to learn is a feeling that this mural gave us.Please help us keep it!
Updates
May 31, 2019
The conversation this mural has sparked in our hallways confirms that it is time for a change.
24 Comments
Are actually kidding me! The whole point of history as a subject is so that we learn from our mistakes. History teaches about the past so we can make the future better. The world is not some sort of rainbow land where everyone is happy and nice to each other. The evils of history serve as reminder so that we can stop it in the future. People worked hard on the mural and it is not fair for you to take it down because it does not fit with your agenda and it hurts your feelings. Sometimes you have to face the facts and move on smarter, rather than cover up the truth with lies.
How about you guys just like make a mural to spread your positivity instead of shaming another students artwork who had 0 intention of hurting anybody and trying to take it down. That way everybody is happy and nobody is excluded or disrespected. I would love to help paint it. I will talk to the school about it first thing tomorrow morning.
You do not HAVE to sign this. If you read the caption, the new club is gathering the signatures and support of people who find it offensive and think that the topic of imperialism could be captured in a better, more correct and less offensive, mural. I’m not sure if there is an emotional attachment to the mural for you, but for me, I think that if people find it offensive, who am I to question weather it is or isn’t offensive to them? Again, if you really love this mural and think it captures imperialism in a perfect way and don’t care if people find it offensive, then don’t sign. Also don’t leave nasty comments. GL has a lot of work to do on being more open minded and comments like this just prove that we have a lot of work to do.
this is outrageous. it’s a painting about the events in history that we learn in school. i would like someone to give me an exact example of how this is offensive. GL has never been and never will be a place of hate. what you’re trying to do has already been done. as a student body everyone is EXTREMELY accepting and open minded. stop trying to push to take away a painting that those students worked so hard on. they would be devastated to know you are trying to erase the mark that they left on our school those 15 years ago.
Why do people hang art in their room or their home? It's because they think it's cool, or reflects their style, or represents something important to them. If so, then why hang this particular mural up? What about it is cool? What is it trying to represent? Is is trying to make a statement? Is it showing imperialism is "good"? Is it satirical and trying to show that imperilism is "bad"? If it's trying to teach a period of our history, aren't there better lessons to be learned and a different piece of art could be chosen as Zara suggested? If it's trying to show that imperialism was "bad" ... aren't there better works to make that point more clearly and purposefully?
Why is the student body so emotionally attached to this mural? I’m genuinely curious, not trying to dismiss your emotions, I just can’t see how the majority of the student body can be SO offended that a new club wants to make a slight adjustment to an outdated mural. Please inform me because clearly I’m missing something here. I am not implying that all of your emotions are irrelevant, however your emotional connection to this mural (for instance, if a family member of yours contributed to it) should not justify the fact that there is a minority of people who are offended by this wall. There is a fine line between your own personal beliefs versus doing what’s right... even if it means sacrificing something for the sake that your fellow peers feel comfortable in their own environment. A quick example: if you are against the LGBTQ community for religious purposes...fine, that’s your OWN personal belief, however that doesn’t take away a gay person’s RIGHT to marriage. This applies to this mural controversy because it seems that the student body doesn’t see the difference between their own personal emotions/ beliefs versus doing what’s right. If you don’t see what’s right about taking down an outdated, poor demonstration of imperialism, then that is a different story however what I’m noticing is that most of those who are in support of having NO CHANGES to this wall are simply emotionally tied, and that doesn’t really justify anything. (At least, well, in MY opinion... watch me get bashed in a matter of seconds...)
ok so i want to explain something i understand what you guys are saying about how we should learn from imperialism, which is “one of the imperfections in our history”. i agree with that, it’s definitely important to learn from our mistakes. the only problem with that is that the mural is not showing imperialism as a mistake or the hurt it caused to entire cultures. instead, it has bright colors and all that to make it seem like imperialism was a great thing for everyone. if you really look at the mural, you can see that it’s showing how we “helped” people who were not as industrialized or “civilized” compared to the rest of the world. this is the same perspective that our textbooks are teaching. they aren’t showing how groups of people suffered, instead they are celebrating what a great job the western countries did to advance the world. the only place i saw any portrayal of suffering on that mural is in one spot about the Armenian genocide, with a person crying a tear of blood. other than that, you see imperialism viewed in a positive light. saying that we were just trying to help is the excuse that many of the people who actually went to invade these places used in order to justify their actions. they took entire cultures and forced people to give up what they believed in, many being killed for not wanting to follow along with this (this isn’t the only bad thing i’m just giving an example). in my opinion, the mural isn’t depicting the whole story, just the parts that make us look like the heroes. you guys really think that taking down the mural will erase history, but don’t worry, it’ll still be there. we aren’t trying to act like some of these mistakes never happened, which is why it should be taken down. keeping it up IS acting like there were no mistakes made because it isn’t showing that at all. if it was such a bad thing, why was it painted to look beautiful? another thing, maybe this is a small issue, but in order to solve problems on a larger scale we
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Status: Closed — this petition is no longer accepting signatures.
Final supporters
Hi guys! We’re sure that most of you are aware of the imperialism mural which is located on the right side wall of the history wing. It was created about 15 years ago by former Governor Livingston students with a former teacher. As founders of the new Student Activism Club at Governor Livingston, we feel it is our duty to make a change by countering the negative stereotypes that this mural portrays.
One of our main goals as a club is to make the school a more open minded and progressive environment where all students and faculty feel welcomed. We believe that this mural fails to welcome different groups of people through its negative portrayal of represented ethnic groups. This mural was created over 15 years ago, and times and perspectives have changed. We now understand that what is depicted on this mural is not respectful, nor is it politically correct.
The depictions of black, Native American, and Asian culture is offensive and the stereotypes are frankly outdated and wrong. We want to ask you, why has this mural been kept up and tolerated for so long? We would like to address the student body to acknowledge that this is not acceptable. Minority communities need to be better appreciated and represented at our school. We believe that repainting this mural would be a step in the right direction.
We know Governor Livingston is capable of making this change and we would like to achieve it as soon as possible. In the future, we plan to partner with the art club to design and repaint the mural in order to more openly and accurately express what occurred globally during imperialism. We want to express the dangers of the racial stereotypes depicted in this imperialism mural. Please know that as students, it starts with you.
Updates
May 31, 2019
The conversation this mural has sparked in our hallways confirms that it is time for a change.
24 Comments
one more thing... you want to create a more open minded environment at GL yet you’re so quick to shut down those with varying opinions. in order to be open minded, accept and listen to everyone’s opinions. by not doing so, you’re being close minded. take what everyone has to say into account. deleting comments and blocking people from your page is not promoting being “open minded” it makes kids not to stand up for what they believe in which is the opposite of what your club is trying to do.
Are actually kidding me! The whole point of history as a subject is so that we learn from our mistakes. History teaches about the past so we can make the future better. The world is not some sort of rainbow land where everyone is happy and nice to each other. The evils of history serve as reminder so that we can stop it in the future. People worked hard on the mural and it is not fair for you to take it down because it does not fit with your agenda and it hurts your feelings. Sometimes you have to face the facts and move on smarter, rather than cover up the truth with lies.
How about you guys just like make a mural to spread your positivity instead of shaming another students artwork who had 0 intention of hurting anybody and trying to take it down. That way everybody is happy and nobody is excluded or disrespected. I would love to help paint it. I will talk to the school about it first thing tomorrow morning.
You do not HAVE to sign this. If you read the caption, the new club is gathering the signatures and support of people who find it offensive and think that the topic of imperialism could be captured in a better, more correct and less offensive, mural. I’m not sure if there is an emotional attachment to the mural for you, but for me, I think that if people find it offensive, who am I to question weather it is or isn’t offensive to them? Again, if you really love this mural and think it captures imperialism in a perfect way and don’t care if people find it offensive, then don’t sign. Also don’t leave nasty comments. GL has a lot of work to do on being more open minded and comments like this just prove that we have a lot of work to do.
this is outrageous. it’s a painting about the events in history that we learn in school. i would like someone to give me an exact example of how this is offensive. GL has never been and never will be a place of hate. what you’re trying to do has already been done. as a student body everyone is EXTREMELY accepting and open minded. stop trying to push to take away a painting that those students worked so hard on. they would be devastated to know you are trying to erase the mark that they left on our school those 15 years ago.
Why do people hang art in their room or their home? It's because they think it's cool, or reflects their style, or represents something important to them. If so, then why hang this particular mural up? What about it is cool? What is it trying to represent? Is is trying to make a statement? Is it showing imperialism is "good"? Is it satirical and trying to show that imperilism is "bad"? If it's trying to teach a period of our history, aren't there better lessons to be learned and a different piece of art could be chosen as Zara suggested? If it's trying to show that imperialism was "bad" ... aren't there better works to make that point more clearly and purposefully?
Why is the student body so emotionally attached to this mural? I’m genuinely curious, not trying to dismiss your emotions, I just can’t see how the majority of the student body can be SO offended that a new club wants to make a slight adjustment to an outdated mural. Please inform me because clearly I’m missing something here. I am not implying that all of your emotions are irrelevant, however your emotional connection to this mural (for instance, if a family member of yours contributed to it) should not justify the fact that there is a minority of people who are offended by this wall. There is a fine line between your own personal beliefs versus doing what’s right... even if it means sacrificing something for the sake that your fellow peers feel comfortable in their own environment. A quick example: if you are against the LGBTQ community for religious purposes...fine, that’s your OWN personal belief, however that doesn’t take away a gay person’s RIGHT to marriage. This applies to this mural controversy because it seems that the student body doesn’t see the difference between their own personal emotions/ beliefs versus doing what’s right. If you don’t see what’s right about taking down an outdated, poor demonstration of imperialism, then that is a different story however what I’m noticing is that most of those who are in support of having NO CHANGES to this wall are simply emotionally tied, and that doesn’t really justify anything. (At least, well, in MY opinion... watch me get bashed in a matter of seconds...)
ok so i want to explain something i understand what you guys are saying about how we should learn from imperialism, which is “one of the imperfections in our history”. i agree with that, it’s definitely important to learn from our mistakes. the only problem with that is that the mural is not showing imperialism as a mistake or the hurt it caused to entire cultures. instead, it has bright colors and all that to make it seem like imperialism was a great thing for everyone. if you really look at the mural, you can see that it’s showing how we “helped” people who were not as industrialized or “civilized” compared to the rest of the world. this is the same perspective that our textbooks are teaching. they aren’t showing how groups of people suffered, instead they are celebrating what a great job the western countries did to advance the world. the only place i saw any portrayal of suffering on that mural is in one spot about the Armenian genocide, with a person crying a tear of blood. other than that, you see imperialism viewed in a positive light. saying that we were just trying to help is the excuse that many of the people who actually went to invade these places used in order to justify their actions. they took entire cultures and forced people to give up what they believed in, many being killed for not wanting to follow along with this (this isn’t the only bad thing i’m just giving an example). in my opinion, the mural isn’t depicting the whole story, just the parts that make us look like the heroes. you guys really think that taking down the mural will erase history, but don’t worry, it’ll still be there. we aren’t trying to act like some of these mistakes never happened, which is why it should be taken down. keeping it up IS acting like there were no mistakes made because it isn’t showing that at all. if it was such a bad thing, why was it painted to look beautiful? another thing, maybe this is a small issue, but in order to solve problems on a larger scale we
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one more thing... you want to create a more open minded environment at GL yet you’re so quick to shut down those with varying opinions. in order to be open minded, accept and listen to everyone’s opinions. by not doing so, you’re being close minded. take what everyone has to say into account. deleting comments and blocking people from your page is not promoting being “open minded” it makes kids not to stand up for what they believe in which is the opposite of what your club is trying to do.