Letter to the Editor
Foster's Daily Democrat
Friday, April 21, 2006
Semantics confuse SHS mascot issue
| This grotesque image with red skin, a sullen expression, and blue streaks of "war paint" is a logo people are actually proud of. |
I am writing in response to a recent letter that stated, "Changing the mascot of Spaulding High School would be absolutely wrong."
During the televised April 13 meeting of the Rochester School Board, there was significant discussion about the fact that Spaulding High School does not have a "mascot." "It’s a logo." The inference was that I have misconstrued the purpose and intent of the name Red Raiders and its accompanying imagery. This little exercise in semantics aside, the fact remains that a nearly all-white public school uses an ethnic stereotype as a symbol for their sports and other activities. But the Save-the-Red-Raider folks won’t let facts get in the way.
Allow me to make this clearer. "Red Raiders" is a race-based team name and the image that school administrators, students, alumni, and the School Board defend is a bright red severed head. This grotesque image with red skin, a sullen expression, and blue streaks of "war paint" is a logo people are actually proud of. This made-up image is not a realistic representation of living Native American people.
The author claimed that Spaulding's race-based team name and bright red severed head logo "holds a bunch of memories." Why don’t we remember our friends and classmates, our favorite teachers, our academic and athletic achievements?
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The author goes on to say that "this idea is just nit-picking," the same words used by School Board member Frank Callaghan just prior to the so-called public hearing on the 11th. Tell that to the numerous Native American organizations and thousands of Native People who have been calling for an end to race-based team names, logos, and mascots for years. Tell that to Spaulding's Human Rights Club who have been struggling to get their program off the ground due to obstacles and indifference from the administration. Tell that to the tiny minority of Native Americans in Rochester who feel they don’t matter.
If the author thinks we should "focus on more important things in life," let's just change the name and logo and move on to actually learning something about real Native Americans.
Pete Sanfaçon
Framingham, Massachusetts