Is it okay to use a racial slur in reference to a group of people, as long as you are representing those people with “pride and honor?” This is the question that is at the heart of the controversy surrounding the use of the name “Redskins” as a mascot.
On Oct. 11 Governor Jerry Brown approved Assembly Bill 30, the California Racial Mascots Act, which bans all California schools from using “Redskins” as a mascot. This law affected four high schools, including my alma mater, Tulare Union High School.
Many people in the Tulare community are upset by this change, while others like myself are proud that California is taking a stand against the use of outdated and offensive mascots.
“The District is disappointed that Governor Brown approved AB 30 into law, not taking into account how the local community of Tulare has supported the Redskins mascot since its inception in 1924,” Sarah Koligian, Tulare Joint Union High School District Superintendent, said in a statement. “Tulare has had the support of our local Native American tribes as well as support from local government and community in how it depicts the Redskins, with honor, pride and respect.”
Koligian went on to say that the estimated cost of the change would be $700,000, which the District’s General Fund would pay for, and which they could apply for reimbursement of by the state government.
The Tule River Indian Tribe, specifically mentioned by Koligian, wrote a letter claiming they weren’t offended by the mascot, and gave the school support for using the mascot as a sign of respect and honor.
The people of this community have good reasons for wanting to keep the mascot they respect and revere so much. But these people need to ask themselves; is it OK to use a racial slur in reference to a group of people, even if you are representing them with pride and honor?
Miriam Webster, Oxford Dictionary, and Dictionary.com all define the term “Redskin” as an offensive and/or dated term referring to Native Americans. Schools would never let a mascot be named after a term that is offensive to Mexicans, Caucasians, Blacks, Asians, etc, so why should it be okay to use a term that is offensive to Native Americans?
Many people in the Tulare community will mention that there is a decade’s long proud tradition with the mascot, but why shouldn’t the thousands of year’s history of the Native Americans take precedent over that? Tulare Union has been using the mascot since 1924, the same year the government finally began to recognize Native Americans as citizens.
Years before and after the government accepted them as citizens, they have inflicted many horrors upon Native Americans, including forced mass relocation (Trail of Tears), a marginalization of their culture and genocide. In fact as an example of the genocide they were subject to the term “Redskin” was used to refer to the bloody scalps of Native Americans that had been hunted for bounty, and in reference to the color of their skin.
There are still Native Americans schools that use the slur to represent athletic teams, and different tribal nations and councils have expressed support of the mascot. Additionally some polls have shown that there are many Native Americans that don’t mind the name.
As an alumnus, I can attest that Tulare Union has the best intentions with their use of the mascot. When I went to pep rallies or football games, we always proudly and dignifiedly exhibited our pride in our mascot. Regardless of these good intentions, using a term that has undeniably racist origins perpetuates the racism that Native Americans have endured since Europeans settled on their land hundreds of years ago.
I repeatedly hear alumni of my high school saying, “I will always be a proud Redskin.” I understand they have hold much pride in the school, as do I, but people should base their school pride in the community, the faculty, the students and the accomplishments of their school, not a mascot that has no actual effect on any of those things.
A mascot is simply used to represent the spirit of a school. There is no reason why Tulare Union and other schools can’t find a new mascot that still represents that same school spirit, but isn’t offensive to a group of people that continues to be marginalized.
