Use of Indian logo is not an issue here
To the editor:
This is in reply to letters by Framingham, Mass., resident Pete Sanfaçon and Endicott, N.Y., resident Robert Eurich regarding Spaulding High's use of the name Red Raiders and the profile of an American Indian as its logo.
Sanfaçon says, "It is time to do away with these racist names and symbols." Eurich implies the good people of the Rochester area, who have decided to retain the name, are a "spineless" and "rabid white isolationists."
In the 1960s, Black Americans were truly the victims of discrimination and racist names. Large numbers demanded changes and eventually got them. Now, where are all the large numbers of American Indians demanding change? There aren't any. This is all the work of a few political activists who don't have anything better to do.
As reported in Foster's, March 24, a Rochester school teacher worked summers on an Arizona Indian reservation for 16 years. The tribes there celebrated the recognition and were not offended by the use of the Red Raiders name and logo.
Cowboys and Indians are part of our heritage and just as American as apple pie and Chevrolet. Many companies, large and small, have in the past, and still do, use American Indian names and symbols for their logo, including Mutual of Omaha.
We in New Hampshire take pride in thinking for ourselves and using common sense. We don't make changes at the whim of every Tom, Pete, or Robert who comes along and we don't care if our decisions are politically correct or not.
The Red Raider logo offends no one except a political activist or two with their own agenda. The logo is deeply rooted in the Rochester area community with a lot of tradition and pride. There is no justifiable reason to change it.
New Hampshire recently was selected as the best state in the country to live and raise a family. Massachusetts and New York were near the other end of the scale.
So, let me suggest to you two, Sanfacon and Eurich, that you don't worry about things up here in New Hampshire and concentrate your efforts on improving your own home states of Massachusetts and New York.
John Allard
Barrington
