How AAPIC responded when Salem community leaders brought concerns about the City Seal forward
In 2025, two members of Salem’s City Seal Task Force brought a question to the Massachusetts Asian American and Pacific Islander Commission: What should a city’s official seal say about the people who live there?
Aditi Ahlawat and Rachel TonThat, members of the Salem City Seal Task Force, presented to AAPIC Commissioners about the Task Force’s work to reconsider Salem’s City Seal, which includes a depiction of an Asian man. They shared the concerns they had heard from community members, the psychological impacts they had explored, and the work underway to engage experts and communities in the conversation.
They were seeking support from community leaders and organizations—including a statement from AAPIC.
Commissioners listened, asked questions, and considered the request. The Commission then voted unanimously to approve a statement supporting a change to Salem’s City Seal.
That exchange is one example of how AAPIC’s statewide role works in practice: community leaders bring an issue forward; Commissioners listen and ask questions; and the Commission determines when and how to respond.
When community leaders bring an issue forward
The presentation to AAPIC was not simply a request for an endorsement.
Commissioners asked about the steps that had already been taken with Salem city leadership and about the response from residents. They asked how residents of color viewed the seal and whether communities had ideas for what should replace it.
Ahlawat explained that the Task Force was liaising with other communities and that its primary request was straightforward: remove the caricature of an Asian person from the official seal.
The exchange gave Commissioners an opportunity to hear directly from community leaders, understand the work already underway, and consider whether AAPIC’s institutional voice could be useful.
That is an important part of AAPIC’s role: community voices should inform the Commission’s understanding of issues affecting AAPI residents, while Commissioners retain responsibility for deciding how the Commission uses its institutional voice.
Why AAPIC supported changing the seal
In its statement, AAPIC supported changing Salem’s City Seal and removing the figure of the Asian man.
The Commission recognized the long history of AAPI residents and families building lives and communities in Salem and throughout Massachusetts. It also acknowledged that anti-Asian racism has continued in more recent history, including the rise in anti-Asian hate and scapegoating during the COVID-19 pandemic.
AAPIC’s concern was not that history should be erased.
Rather, the Commission emphasized that official public imagery should reflect the dignity and belonging of the people who live in a community today.
After hearing from Ahlawat and TonThat and discussing the issue, Commissioners unanimously approved AAPIC’s statement of support.
The statement said, in part:
“When harmful, caricatured, or inaccurate imagery is left unaddressed, it adds to the sense of invisibility and alienation that many AAPI residents already feel.”
AAPIC also emphasized the diversity within Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. While communities may share aspects of their experiences, their histories, identities, and experiences in the United States are not interchangeable.
For Salem, that means understanding the lived experiences of its own AAPI residents and allowing those experiences to inform conversations about the city’s civic identity.
A broader community process
AAPIC’s statement was one part of a much larger process in Salem.
The City Seal Task Force was established in September 2024 after concerns were raised about the seal. The Task Force undertook historical research and public engagement, including 17 public meetings, three listening sessions, and more than 400 written submissions. More than 40 people spoke during the public listening sessions. The process brought together residents, historians, community organizations, and others to examine the history and meaning of the seal.
The Task Force’s final report describes the current seal, adopted in 1839, as depicting an Acehnese or Sumatran merchant in connection with Salem’s historic trade with Southeast Asia. It also documents the concerns raised about the representation of the Asian figure and the Task Force’s deliberations about whether the seal remains an appropriate symbol for Salem today.
In October 2025, the Task Force voted 5–1 to recommend changing the current seal.
At AAPIC, the issue came before the Commission through two members of Salem’s City Seal Task Force, who asked Commissioners to consider a statement of support. After hearing their presentation and discussing the issue, Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the statement.
From community voice to public decision
The work did not end with the Task Force’s recommendation.
In August 2026, Salem’s City Council Committee of the Whole voted 7–2 to advance the recommendation to replace the current seal. The full City Council then considered the matter at its September 10, 2026 meeting. The City’s official calendar confirms the meeting took place; minutes are posted after approval, and the September 10 meeting does not yet appear with approved minutes in the City’s public archive.
The process illustrates how a community concern can move through multiple stages: community organizing, research, public engagement, institutional consideration, and government decision-making.
AAPIC’s role was one part of that process. The Commission listened to community leaders, considered the information presented, and made a decision about how to use its own institutional voice.
What this means for AAPIC’s work
For AAPIC, being a statewide commission means staying connected to the people and organizations working in communities across Massachusetts—and having a process for bringing what we hear into the Commission’s work.
Sometimes that means connecting a community to state government or resources. Sometimes it means bringing community knowledge into policymaking. And sometimes, as in Salem, it means hearing directly from community leaders, considering an issue before the Commission, and deciding whether AAPIC’s institutional voice can contribute to a broader public process.
The Salem City Seal conversation is one example of that work.
Community leaders brought an issue forward. AAPIC listened. Commissioners asked questions, considered the request, and voted unanimously to respond.
That is what it can look like when community knowledge moves into public decision-making—and one way AAPIC works to ensure that Massachusetts’ diverse AAPI communities are heard in the civic life of the Commonwealth.
AAPIC’s Statement of Support
The following statement was approved by Commissioners after hearing from members of the Salem City Seal Task Force and discussing the request for AAPIC’s support.
The Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Commission supports changing Salem’s city seal and removing the figure of the Asian man. For generations, AAPI individuals and families have navigated complex environments to create safe and meaningful lives in Salem and across Massachusetts. In recent years, centuries of anti-Asian racism have continued though scapegoating and anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic, even among elected officials, which deepened the urgency of ensuring that public spaces and symbols reflect dignity and belonging. When harmful, caricatured, or inaccurate imagery is left unaddressed, it adds to the sense of invisibility and alienation that many AAPI residents already feel.
By exploring symbols that respect and reflect the experiences of all residents—including AAPI members—Salem has the opportunity to align itself with the Commonwealth’s recent efforts to adopt a new state flag and seal that better reflect Massachusetts’ values of equity and inclusion. Salem also joins other cities and towns, such as Natick and Newton, that have taken similar steps.
As the conversations around the imagery of our state flag and seal have brought up, 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.
Though the broader Asian community remains an important part of our story, it is critical to honor the distinct experiences, identities, and histories of the local Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in our diasporic and migratory experiences shaped by living in the U.S. While connected, theirs are not interchangeable stories. In Salem, it is especially important to focus on the lived realities of AAPI residents—our neighbors, families, and community members—whose voices and experiences must guide how the city builds belonging and justice.
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. The Commission commends the leadership of the City of Salem—Mayor Pangallo, the City Council, and members of the City Seal Taskforce—for taking this important step toward re-examining the city seal and appointing a diverse City Seal Task Force, ensuring that a wide range of community voices are represented in this work. We are proud to support the Salem City Seal Taskforce in this important work and look forward to seeing Salem move forward with symbols that reflect the strength and diversity of all its people, including its AAPI community.
Related Resources:
