One year ago, a little girl from Portland, Oregon, wrote a letter to her school board urging them to consider renaming her middle school after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
At the time, the girl’s request was denied because the district’s naming policy requires the honoree to have been deceased for three years already.
But upon learning that her hero had passed away this month, the little girl has now resumed her mission to see her school properly honor the late feminist icon.
10-year-old Ruby Waas Shull is a fifth grade student at Kellogg Middle School.
According to Fox 12 , the institute is currently under construction, which the young girl believes would be the perfect time to consider changing its name.
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s been my hero and idol,” she told the outlet. “So it was really important to me to represent her.”
As for its current name, Ruby believes her school could be better represented by someone else.
Someone like RBG.
As Ruby explained, “His name’s Joseph Kellogg I believe, he hadn’t really done anything important for the community and Ruth Bader Ginsburg has fought for equal rights for many people.”
To get her school district to consider the renaming, the fifth grade student wrote yet another letter, which clocked in at just over two pages.
A photo of the letter was shared to Facebook by Ruby’s mother, Rachael, and in it the young girl implores that the district make an exception to its three-years-deceased naming policy.
“Ginsburg was not a wealthy business person,” Ruby wrote. “She was someone born into a Jewish middle-lower class family. She was a soft spoken girl who loved to read and who found her voice through feminism.”
Ruby has started a petition to further push for the district to rename their school in honor of Ginsburg.
That online petition has been dubbed, “The Justice Project.”
“We have a lot of schools (far too many, in my opinion) named after white businessmen,” Ruby’s letter to the district reads, as per the petition. “[If] kids go to schools centered only on white males then kids who are not those two things may feel unimportant, or worthless even.”
As of writing, Ruby’s petition has just over 2,300 of its goal of 2,500 signatures.
In a statement to local outlet 13 WHAM , Portland Public Schools said it had not head of Ruby’s petition.
“PPS is very committed to student voice and the renaming process,” the statement continued. “This summer we proposed a new process that aligns with our PPS Vision, our values, commitment to Racial Equity and Social Justice, and is culturally responsive.”
Ruby’s mom, Rachael, said the name change is something her daughter won’t soon quit pushing for, especially since it’s been a year in the making.
“We are working out next steps, but Ruby’s goal is to present directly to the school board,” she told Scary Mommy . “We are all feeling excited about the possibility of better representation in our monuments and institutions.”
Click here to check out Ruby’s petition.
h/t: Fox 12 , WHAM 13 , Scary Mommy .
