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| Source: http://www.hyperstitch.com |
Let me introduce Huntley High School. Location: Huntley, Illinois. A fast growing, not so rural anymore, suburb northwest of Chicago. For as long as the school has had a mascot, the student body had always been known as the Redskins. The mascot had been a Native-American Chief. Going back to 2001 and 2002, the high school faced controversy when protesters and law officials named the mascot as "insensitive" and "inappropriate". While district 158 officials sought out to keep the mascot as is, protesters wanted the mascot changed. The concern to change or keep the name began in April of 2001 where students at the time voiced their opinions, "Ever since this Redskins thing came up this year, every student has shown some kind of support for the mascot. Everybody loves the mascot, and we have nothing but respect for the mascot"(Barnes 3). This was said by then Senior Rich Funk, who not only supported the Redskins mascot but is also a Caucasian. The school at the time was majority white and had close to zero Native-American students. So in retrospect, the student population (and school officials) supported the decision to keep the Redskins name. Despite Native American activists arguing the mascot is a demeaning symbol of racism, Huntley's school board voted on keeping the Redskins nickname.
Fast forward to February 2002 when school board officials and activists of the Native-American Bar Association continued to clash over Huntley's mascot. When the Association approached the school board to change the mascot name or else they would sue over the name being a racial slur, the school not only voted to keep the name, but also lift the restrictions it had for uniforms and public usage. Soon after the Association filed a civil lawsuit against Huntley High, and just three months later the school board decided instead of wasting money in court to defend the name, they would just change the mascot all together. As of August 1, 2002, Huntley High was now known as the Red Raiders with a raider(type of horse) as their mascot. Being apart of the 2011 graduating class, and attending Huntley all four years of high school, I did not notice how back and forth the school board was on changing the name. I cannot really tell if it is a good or bad thing that the school officials changed the name just because they didn't want to pay court fees to keep it. Did they really think the Redskins nickname was not offensive and insensitive?
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| Source: http://www.d158.k12.il.us/hhs/ |
We see racism in sports subtly nowadays, but that doesn't mean it is not there and there shouldn't be anything done about it. My knowledge of my high school is just one of the many same instances that have occurred in mascot history. Particularly in Huntley's case, I believe many of the supporters for the Redskins name supported it because the area has been predominately white and they take no offense the the Redskins name. They cannot relate to how it can be insulting and inappropriate. They only see Redskins as apart of the school's history and claim they're not being racist with the mascot. Yet when the school board was approached with the threat to change the name or else face a lawsuit, why did they vote to keep the name Redskins? Was this the school board being blindsided by the fact that they were being insensitive to Native-Americans? I believe so. It could also be the school having too much pride in their name and history. They must really want to hold onto their identity and never change, even at the cost of coming across racist. Whichever the case, the name Redskins is insulting and is perceived by some Native-Americans as the same as using the N word against blacks.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-02-22/news/0202220086_1_board-members-mascot-redskins
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-04-20/news/0104200355_1_mascot-board-voted-thursday-night-popularity-poll
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