CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Students of a Southwest Side high school are calling for the school’s name to be changed because the namesake had been a slave owner.
Student Andrea Castillo and the Social Justice Club at John Hancock College Prep said John Hancock owned slaves and that is enough to have his name removed from the school. Castillo said the school will be transitioning to a new building next fall, which would make it a perfect time to change the school’s name.
“I feel like something Hancock (College Prep) really prides itself on is that we’re a selective enrollment school on the (Southwest) Side of Chicago,” 16-year-old Andrea Castillo told the Chicago Tribune.
“And if we’re praising Black and brown students for finally casting off statistics and stereotypes, why should we continue to (honor) this man who devalued us? We definitely have better options, and it’s something we really want to fight for.”
On her change.org petition, John Hancock College Prep student Andrea Castillo said that John Hancock, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, has no place in the Chicago Public School system, except as a history lesson.
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The online petition has already gathered nearly 700 signatures.
Students suggest the school be named after Chicago natives, either musician Herbie Hancock or singer Curtis Mayfield.