A Native American advocacy group is cheering the removal of a mascot from a Bay Area high school. Though several people spoke against the change at Wednesday night’s meeting, the John Swett Unified School District Board decided that John Swett High School in Crockett would no longer use the name “Indians” for their teams’ mascot. The school district has not yet chosen a new mascot. “I believe that John Swett Unified School District took responsible action in voting unanimously to remove the mascot,” said Angel Heart, spokesperson for the Sacred Sites Protection and Rights of Indigenous Tribes, a Native American group that lobbied the school to change its mascot. “The use of Native American names and/or symbols by non-native sports teams is a harmful form of ethnic stereotyping that promotes misunderstanding and prejudice which contributes to other problems faced by Native Americans,” Heart said.
I completely agree with the decisions being made. I think its derogatory towards the Native Americans to not only call them Indians but to also put it as a school mascot. This is similar to the studies in APUSH where we learned that the colonists completely disregarded the fact that the Native Americans were also humans and began to treat them wrong. Stereotyping, as mentioned, should end completely because it does nothing but harm to different groups of people.
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/02/12/john-swett-high-school-in-crockett-drops-indians-mascot/
I agree that the mascot name is insensitive and could be offensive towards Native Americans.
ReplyDeleteIt's good that they are being respectful and changing their mascot to something better.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree, it's dehumanizing for native americans and unnecessary in this day and age.
ReplyDeleteLauren Kuehmeier, period 2