In a few weeks, Salem City Council will vote whether to change the current city seal. It is LONG overdue for city leaders to recognize that the current seal—adopted nearly 200 years ago—no longer reflects the values of our city. Unfortunately, a gaggle of belligerent locals are pressuring city leaders to keep the current seal.
Please stand with the local AAPI community who have clearly stated that the current seal is offensive. Email Salem City Council (citycouncilors@salem.com) in support of the Task Force's recommendation that the current city seal be changed. See sample letters below.
Where Councillors Stand
On August 4th, the Committee of the Whole met to consider whether to approve the City of Salem City Seal Task Force's recommendation to replace the current seal with imagery that is not hurtful to the local Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. In a 7-2 vote, the recommendation passed.
Likely Yes votes
The following councillors voted to change the seal at the August 4th Committee of the Whole meeting. They likely will maintain this position when the full Council votes. In your letters to these councillors, please thank them for their vote on August 4th and ask them to continue to support changing the seal.
- Erin Turowski, Ward 1 Councillor
- Andrew Smith, Ward 2 Councillor
- Lydia C. King, Ward 5 Councillor
- Katelyn Holappa, Ward 6 Councillor
- Andrew W. Varela, Ward 7 Councillor
- Kyle Alexander Davis, Councillor at Large
- Alice Rose Merkl, Councillor at Large - Council President
At the August 4th meeting, these councillors gave persuasive speeches in favor of changing the seal. I have shared links to each of these speeches below. Please thank them for their thoughtful remarks.
Councillors Who Likely Will Vote No
The following Councillors are likely to vote against changing the seal, though they might be swayed by public pressure. In your letters to these councillors, please make note of their past votes and/or their public support for the current seal. Ask them to reconsider their positions on this issue.
- Timothy G. Flynn, Ward 4 Councillor
- Jason Sydoriak, Ward 3 Councillor
- Ty Hapworth, Councillor at Large
- Conrad J. Prosniewski, Councillor at Large
Councillors Flynn and Prosniewski missed the Committee of the Whole meeting held on August 4th. However, Prosniewski has signaled opposition to changing the seal in past votes relating to the seal. Flynn recently posted on Facebook that he is opposed to changing the seal, so he is likely a 'no' vote.
Councillors Hapworth and Sydoriak were the only councillors who voted against changing the seal at the August 4th Committee of the Whole meeting. Based on a recent Facebook post and newsletter, Hapworth will likely remain opposed to changing the seal. I truly hope I am wrong about this.
In his August 2nd newsletter, Sydoriak voiced support for changing the seal. In his August 11th newsletter, he said his no vote was because he wanted to receive more public input before voting on the matter. Hopefully, he will be a 'yes' vote in September, especially if he receives enough feedback in support of this position.
Sample Letters
Please email Salem City Council (citycouncilors@salem.com) in support of the Task Force's recommendation that the current city seal be changed. Feel free to use any of the sample emails below. Send us your letters supporting changing the seal and we will publish them below.
If you are writing to individual councillors, please add a sentence or two that either thanks them for supporting changing the seal or expresses disappointment over their reluctance to change it.
Sample Letter
I care about Salem being a city that is honest about its history and treats everyone with dignity and respect. That is why I'm asking you to support changing the City's seal.
Local Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community members have repeatedly called for replacing the seal, which depicts an Acehnese merchant (as seen through the lens of Salem's aldermen in 1839). Most people—including most Salem residents—are unaware of the city's trading history with the Aceh. Even knowing this history, it is not obvious that the man depicted on our seal is an Acehnese merchant. The average person viewing the seal likely assumes that this man is Chinese thanks to anti-Asian tropes in our visual culture. The placement of a dove with an olive branch whitewashes the violence, racism and exploitation of U.S. maritime trade with Asia during the nineteenth century. Furthermore, in the year 2026, it is grossly inappropriate for a person from a historically marginalized community to be used as a mascot or symbol.
Public symbols matter: they signify who belongs (and who does not) within a community. Massachusetts is in the process of changing its seal because its depiction of a white hand holding a Colonial sword over an Indigenous person celebrates the colonial violence. Newton and Natick recently changed their seals because they also were highly disrespectful to the Massachusett Tribe. It's time for Salem to follow suit.
I hope you'll stand with Salem's AAPI community and vote to change the city seal.
North Shore AAPI Coalition Letter
The following letter was sent in early August to the Salem City Council from North Shore AAPI Coalition Director Rachel TonThat and Assistant Director Flora TonThat. Please draw upon language from the second and third paragraphs for your letters to City Council.
"On behalf of the North Shore AAPI Coalition, we write to express our strong support for changing the official seal of the City of Salem. As an organization founded by and for the multicultural Asian American residents of Salem, we care deeply about equity, inclusion, and telling our shared history honestly.
The current seal has long been described as a symbol of peaceful trade, but that description leaves out the violent military retaliation that came before it and the often unequal trading practices that accompanied Salem’s pepper trade with Sumatra. We understand the seal was meant to honor Salem's maritime past, and we believe that history can still be honored without relying on the imagery of a racial minority. As it stands, the seal echoes the same dynamics of racial hierarchy that communities here in Massachusetts and across the country are working hard to move beyond. This isn't an isolated issue. It sits within a much longer history of anti-Asian violence and discrimination in America that spans from the Chinese Exclusion Act, to the internment of Japanese Americans, to the hostility many of us felt during COVID-19. Public symbols shape how a community sees itself and who it welcomes. We believe Salem's should reflect peace and honesty about the past.
We ask the City of Salem to seize this moment. Help write the next chapter for a city grappling with its history, one that makes room for all of its community members, not just the majority.
Thank you for your leadership and consideration."
Civil Rights Organizations Standing with Salem's AAPI Community
It should come as no surprise that several state and local civil rights organizations are standing in solidarity with the local AAPI community in calling for the city seal to be changed. The City Seal Task Force received letters of support from the following organizations:
- Asian Pacific Islanders Civic Action Network Massachusetts
- Latino Leadership Coalition
- Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag
- Massachusetts Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Commission,
- NAACP North Shore Branch, and
- North Shore Alliance for LGBTQ+ Youth (NAGLY).
In their letter, the Massachusetts Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Commission wrote the following:
"...We believe that people, particularly people of color, should not be used as mascots in official imagery, and that other depictions of POC should come from within their own communities....Retiring harmful imagery will send a powerful message to future generations: that Salem is a city committed to honoring diversity, fostering unity, and ensuring that all residents see themselves in its civic identity."