A different take on racist mascots
Re Dump racist names, Editorial Jan. 22 It may well seem, from the great, enlightened city of Toronto, that the education minister’s directive against discriminatory school mascots and logos is nothing short of real (if belated) progress. Finally, we bring those ignorant rural and small-town Ontarians into alignment with their betters in the GTA.
The Star can be forgiven for having singled out specific schools like Chippewa Secondary’s Raiders and Northern Secondary’s Braves, as their motive is truly to illustrate that school administrators with no understanding of First Nations culture and no insight into the concerns of indigenous Canadians can fall into traps of discrimination, insensitivity and intolerance.
Sadly, from their soapbox at the centre of their shining City on a Hill, they neglect that these schools and their communities have (and have always had) significant indigenous student representation in their student bodies and on their sports teams.
In fact, some of the greatest athletes to wear the Northern Secondary Braves jerseys or the Chippewa Raiders logo have been members of Ontario’s First Nations. These athletes wore their colours proudly alongside non-indigenous Canadians, who were equally proud to carry the responsibility of representing Ontario’s indigenous communities as ambassadors for their schools.
The assumption that any logo, name or mascot that evokes the heritage and pride of Ontario’s First Nations is necessarily discriminatory does not stand up to scrutiny. Certainly, we should eliminate racist caricatures where they exist, but we must not blindly attack any who represent Ontario’s First Nations communities in their school pride.
Perhaps, if the Star’s editorial board is so concerned with protecting the imagined sensibilities of indigenous communities far from Toronto, they should look a little closer to home if they aim to eliminate long-standing symbols of colonial oppression.
I recommend they start with Fort York and Queen’s Park. Steve Smith, Nipissing, Ont.