Now’s time for serious change
Offensive nicknames, mascots must go
I see schools with derogatory nicknames and racist mascots trudge through the slow process of considering change and I have just one question.
What’s the hold up?
If these schools — always, it seems, forced into such consideration — aren’t going to be proactive in moving toward the right side of history by making changes that just make sense, they can at least be productively reactive.
How hard is it to do away with Redmen in Killingly or Indians in Manchester or Warriors all over the place? How long should it take to get rid of the logos that often accompany these names – the arrows and headdresses and feathers and tomahawks.
Respond to the need for change with actual change instead of what typically amounts to some type of we’ll-think-about-it-blahblah-blah — which is only slightly better than ignoring the issue altogether or citing some nonsense about tradi
tion as a means to argue that a particularly offensive nickname is fine.
The bottom line: Changing a nickname and rebranding doesn’t hurt anyone. And it can alleviate hurt, annoyance, disrespect and mockery felt by many Native Americans.
If groups of students or certain sects of society come forth with a coherent explanation for why a change is needed, it should be acted on rather quickly instead of mulled over through a much-too-long bureaucratic process.
There’s no need for the Derby Red Raiders or Canton Warriors or Newington Indians. Traditions and memories and legacies are built on people, on studentathletes, on actual teams over time, not some stupid logo that might be a caricature of a Native American in a headdress.
Throughout the past 25 years or so, a quarter century of at least increasing clarity and maturity, there has been a movement to do away with and/or move away from insensitive nicknames.
These changes, and debates, start way up at the top of the professional sports
with the Washington Redskins. In Cleveland, there’s still a baseball team named the Indians, but Chief Wahoo was bounced. St. John’s went from Redmen to Red Storm in 1994. How the heck does Redmen live on in Killingly?
That’s where the most recent local action is being taken — or, for now, talked about. According to the Norwich Bulletin, two students are seeking feedback from the school community about whether the nickname is offensive.
Seriously, how could one argue that it isn’t?
Superintendent Steve Rioux told the Bulletin that other community members have questioned Redmen in the past few years.
A few years. See what I’m saying? At no point did Rioux or others in position of influence see a way to formally move forward with a change in names?
What benefit does keeping Redmen bring? Why would it be important? For continuity? For the comfort of being used to calling the teams Redmen?
Embrace the responsibility, and opportunity, to change. Taking part in a rebranding — about 20 Connecticut High Schools have names that warrant the process – would actually be a galvanizing event. Get rid of the old logos, uniforms, stickers. Come up with a creative and unique nickname and logo — named by students, designed by students, for students — and have fun with this.
In the process, you’ll be an adult in the room. There are others. UMass went from Redmen to Minutemen in the early 1970s. Quinnipiac changed from Braves to Bobcats in the 1990s. The Northwest Catholic Indians became the Northwest Catholic Lions in 2015.
“I am a Native American woman who is very proud of who I am,” Nyla Menor of Plainfield told the Bulletin. “The Killingly mascot is very offensive and ignorant to my people. There is nothing honorable about my people being mocked as a team mascot. … It is not changing history, it is fixing it.”
There is movement on the issue in Manchester, where on June 24 the board of education will vote on whether to change the Indians nickname and mascot. People fall on both sides of the debate, online conversation shows, with some people believing that Indians should remain for its history.
But, again, that history isn’t built on a name. It’s built on the people of a proud town. Change doesn’t often come easy, but this type should.
“Behind it all, it’s really just a racialinjustice issue,” junior Liam Chenette told The Courant in May. “Cool, it’s to have a different kind of animal or something to represent us on a T-shirt, but in reality, [Indian] is a racial identity that’s being used as a mascot. And that’s just so wrong on so many levels.”
A group of Manchester students have already come up with a potential replacement: The Red Hawks.
I like it already. Sound strange to you? I get it. I thought UConn’s new Husky logo was lame when it was first introduced, but now I love it. I thought Yard Goats was a goofy name when the team debuted, but now I think it’s among the best in sports.
The point? You can get used to most anything.
Not a celebration of racism, however unintentional it may be. Not the mockery of a group of people, however unintentional that also may be.
If there’s even the slightest reason to consider change on issues such as this, just go ahead and make the change. We don’t need to sit around and brainstorm for reasons to.
It harms no one. Ultimately it will make every feel better, make our schools look better and allow our students to lead the way to a more civilized, informed and dignified society.