Letter to the Editor
Foster's Daily Democrat
Thursday, March 30, 2006
'Red Raiders' sends wrong message
To the editor:
Supporters of Spaulding High School sports teams over the past 60 years or so have cheered for the Red Raiders. The logo has changed over the years, but the basic image is a profile of a Native American from an unnamed tribe, with red eagle feathers, a red face or both.
When asked why their mascot is still the Red Raiders, school officials claim that they are honoring American Indians and that the name and logo are a source of pride.
For whom? The term raiders conjures up images of America's violent past: Indian fighters, Manifest Destiny, massacres on the plains and forced assimilation. Tribes fought for their survival.
Native American history can be a touchy subject in this country, where Native Americans account for just one percent of the total population, even less in New Hampshire, after 400 years of genocide. So, let's put an Indian head patch on a jersey.
The New Hampshire Board of Education has adopted a resolution calling for the "elimination of the use of Indian sports mascots and encourages all districts to examine this issue and to eliminate the use of sports mascots." That was in 2002.
Why do we choose to ignore the growing number of Native American groups and other organizations around the country who call for an end to such mascots? (The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, NAACP, United Methodist Church, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and the American Psychological Association, to name a few.)
I was born and raised in Rochester and attended Rochester schools for 12 years. I no longer live here, but I still have family here — family with school-aged children — and I still care about this community. We are teaching our children that it's alright to call human beings red raiders. Indians are people, not mascots.
It's time to do away with these racist names and symbols. Surely Spaulding can do what other New Hampshire schools have done and come up with a mascot that doesn't offend anyone. If you must honor someone, honor your students by having the courage to stand up and do what's right.
Pete Sanfaçon
Framingham, Massachusetts