"We are not cartoons. We are living, breathing people. Just the thought of being a mascot is very degrading."---Ronald LaFrance, Jr., Chief of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, 12/12/22.
In a nutshell, Chief LaFrance's statement sums up the feelings of Native American tribes in New York, and, for that matter, across the country. After months of debate in the Cambridge School District in Washington County, an issue still not resolved internally, the NY Board of Regents ruled Monday that by the end of the current school year, several school districts across the state will have to retire their Native American imagery, though some team names might be retained, as the Regents are taking that under advisement.
Cambridge is one of at least three districts in Section II that uses "Indians" as the team nickname, Glens Falls and Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk come to mind fairly quickly. According to Kathleen Moore in the Albany Times-Union this morning, some schools, such as Colonie & Mechanicville, gave up their mascots long ago, while retaining the nickname "Raiders". Colonie's teams are known as the Garnet Raiders, while Mechanicville's are the Red Raiders.
And, then, there are the "Warriors", such as Averill Park, Stillwater, Niskayuna (Silver), and Mohonasen (Mighty Warriors). On Monday, the Regents ruled that Mohonasen will have to give up its mascot at the end of the season, if not sooner. The school name is an amalgam of three NY tribes, Mohawk, Onondaga, & Seneca.
According to Ruth Turner, a member of the Regents, this move should've been made a long time ago. Each district will argue about tradition, and the unwillingness to forsake it. We're moving toward 2023. Traditions can change or be amended.
This wave of political correctness isn't over yet. Seems the next move would be to amend some school names to remove references to slave owners of centuries past. And that will be an even tougher task.
No comments:
Post a Comment