For Immediate Release:
Contact: Chris Nordstrum, Communications Director
New Mexico Senate Majority Office
(415) 601-1992
Chris.Nordstrum@nmlegis.gov
July 29, 2020
SANTA FE — New Mexico State Senator Linda M. Lopez, in consultation with several elected/community leaders from the southwest quadrant of Albuquerque, has requested that Albuquerque Public Schools consider changing the name of Kit Carson Elementary School.
“Changing the name of Kit Carson and renaming the school to honor a local teacher or community leader is an important part of understanding history in a fuller context and empowering a community to take ownership and recognize one of our own,” said Senator Lopez.
In 1863, Carson, on behalf of the federal government, led a scorched-earth campaign against the Navajo people, burning homes, killing livestock and destroying food supplies. The following year, troops under the command of Carson rounded up thousands of Navajo men, women and children and forced them to march several hundred miles from their homes in Arizona and New Mexico to a reservation at Bosque Redondo in the southeastern part of the state. Thousands of Navajos died along the way and nearly a third of those living there died of disease, exposure and hunger over the course of the following years.
“This is not about erasing the past, but we should acknowledge the hurt and damage that can be caused by putting historical figures in positions of reverence without regard to the complete story,” continued Senator Lopez. “Elementary school-aged students in particular should feel proud to walk the halls of their schools. Imagine what it might feel like for our Native American children to enter the doors of an institution named after the man responsible for the killing of their ancestors.”
As the renaming of a school is a community process and conversation, APS will be taking steps to educate the community about this request, the historical figure of Kit Carson, the role of historical memory in our modern lives, and the role of school names in the modern context of anti-racist education. A panel for conversation on the topic is in the process of being set up to present to the Kit Carson ES Instructional Council/PTA who can approve/not approve the request. If approved, a petition will be circulated to student families and staff.
If the petition gets enough qualified signatures (60% of student families and staff), it will go before the School Board for final approval.
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