France's letter has kickstarted a public process. (Cristian Martinez | Amplify Utah) Jevahjire France, left, and Edward Lopez are pushing South Salt Lake to rename the Columbus Community Center. The Best Buy Teen Tech Center, a Promise SSL project, serves a diverse population, France said, noting he believes the name of the community center should reflect that as well.įollowing France’s letter, the City Council tasked the Youth City Council, a group comprised of local high school students, to come up with a name change proposal.Įdward Lopez, an adviser to the YCC, said that while France’s letter initiated the current process, other members of the community had previously supported changing the center’s name. As a high school student taking part in the robotics team, France formed a connection with Promise SSL, a city initiative that provides community and after-school programs with an academic focus. “As a young immigrant just like many in South Salt Lake, I have always wondered if the members of the council of this city ever question how a young immigrant or refugee feels knowing that he is frequenting a library named after an oppressor not too different from the one(s) they or their parents were fleeing from back home?”įrance, now a student at Salt Lake Community College, moved from Haiti to the United States in 2016 when he was 13. “In all honesty,” France wrote in the letter, “the name of was one that I could never find myself in as a youth.” In August 2020, he wrote a letter to South Salt Lake City Council members asking them to consider a name change. However, France was bothered that the community center is named in honor of Christopher Columbus. That community center - dating back more than 100 years - hosts many of South Salt Lake’s activities and events.
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