JACKSON, MI — The official seal for the city of Jackson features U.S. President Andrew Jackson waving his hat in the air while riding a rearing horse.
Jackson, the nation’s seventh president, is among the historical figures who have come under fire by those protesting racism and the treatment of minorities after the May death of George Floyd, a black man killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis.
Now, some Jackson residents wonder if the former president’s representation in the city’s seal is appropriate based on Jackson being a slave owner and signer of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which led to the forced western relocation of multiple Native American tribes along the “Trail of Tears” from the southeastern U.S.
James Tuttle is one of them. The question came to the part-time Jackson resident based in California after he saw attempts to tear down a statue of Jackson that’s in Lafayette Square in Washington D.C., just north of the White House.
The statue, created by Clark Mills in 1852, is similar to the image portrayed in Jackson’s city seal.
“That made me think of the city seal,” Tuttle said. “Then I said, ‘Jackson has some racist imagery.‘”
Tuttle reached out to city leaders and, in response, Mayor Derek Dobies said he’s open to dialogue on changing the seal that’s been in use by the city since around 1937 if there’s enough community support.
“I think that we should have a conversation about changing the seal and I’m happy to engage the community in that conversation about whether that change is necessary and how to come up with a seal that is fitting for everyone in our community,” Dobies said.
Discussion on the subject likely will show up on the Jackson City Council’s July 14 meeting agenda, Jonathan Greene, interim city manager said.
While the depiction of the former president appears on Jackson’s official seal, Aaron Dimick, the city’s public information officer, said the main logo the city uses is a navy and sky-blue circle with white lines that signify the city’s crossroads between I-94 and U.S. 127.
The logo Jackson City Council picked to grace two raised water towers within the city in 2014.Courtesy of City of Jackson
“The city over the past, I would say five years, has been conscious about how we represent ourselves,” Dimick said. “We’ve actually been moving away from using the official seal.”
While the city seal depicting Jackson is one matter, the former president also is reflected in a much bigger way in the name of the city.
On July 4, 1829, Horace Blackman and two companions stood on the banks of the Grand River to celebrate the settlement of what they called Jacksonburg or Jacksonopolis, in honor of Jackson being sworn in as president a few months earlier. By 1838, their new settlement’s name had been shortened to Jackson.
Peek Through Time: Jackson, first in rank among the Cabinet Counties
Changing the name of the city, though, would be more difficult, Dobies said.
“The name is probably a little bit different from a seal or a statue,” he said. “It’s more of a direct reference to that person. I think we we’ll first start with what sounds like a conversation about the city seal and see what the people of Jackson will want to do.”
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Andrew Jackson’s history raises questions about Jackson’s official city seal - MLive.com
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