Diversity lesson motivates teacher”Mascot madness” came to mind upon reading a recent article on the justification of Native Americans as mascots. The na?ve overtone of the student article and the fact that I am ashamed to have passively tolerated this as a teacher at UHS for 29 years made me speak out. It is tremendously sad that the faces of the people who have lived longest in our nation are printed on our doormats and the seats of sports uniforms. Does the general public know that the ‘R’ word is as spiteful to American Indians as the ‘N’ word is to black Americans? The Red Raider mascot does not honor Native Americans, and it is not fitting for a district with a commitment to quality education to continue this practice.
Many claim that our mascot honors Native Americans. In speaking with Native Americans, I learned we could not practice anything more insulting and degrading than what we do when making merry with their traditional religious lifestyle. While I imagine Red Raiders as mascots is buried deep in a bag of cowboys-and-Indians-this-sure-makes-for-colorful-fun laundry, it is downright disrespectful of the religious practices of Native American people. To suggest that Native Americans are intrinsically war-like by associating them with school events is absurd and humiliating. The designation of Raider Reservation is abusive. No matter how well intentioned we in the mainstream claim to be, it is time to acknowledge there is no honor in such disrespect.
We make generic emblems of Native American symbols and images. This is like saying all Europeans look the same; all Africans dress the same, or all Asians speak the same language. How narrow-minded can we be?
There is a popular notion that to be acknowledged as a Native American one must live as one and be at least half-blood, not merely the common blood. Can Jews, Greek, Irish, Hispanic, Polish, Italian, African, Lebanese, and Asian Americans recall a time when they were collectively stereotyped for their ethnicity and religious ways? Has anyone else bothered to ask a Native American how he or she feels on the mascot subject? Or, is it that we don’t have any Native Americans residing in our area that somehow justifies our continuous actions?
Public schools are clearly not permitted to exploit religious symbols yet as ‘proud Red Raiders’ we use clich? ceremonial costumes, dances, and drum cadences freely as if Native American practices are mere fodder for our fun. If logic follows, then can we look forward to twirling crucifixes, crowns of thorns on our school letterman jackets, and short-skirted nun habits worn for school entertainment? I think not!
As a teacher, I do have an underlying motivation in all of this. All students need to know that we are all equal in spite of our differences. This is difficult to get across in the classroom when our mascot is a glaring daily reminder that other messages are loud and clear.
I respect all who have a history in the Uniontown Area School District. I understand the resistance to such change, especially when sentimentality is attached to events. Yet, when going down memory lane Red Raider apparitions transfix you, I think it is time for a reality check. We can always be proud of our accomplishments, yet resignation to sentimental ways steeped in bigotry, even when not deliberately intended, is clearly not something of which to be proud.
We would not be alone improving our image. I have found 167 U.S. institutions (three in Pennsylvania) that have made this transition.
I urge all people in our district to unite in changing to a truly positive image that delivers a clear message of unity because hanging onto racial and religious discrimination is mascot madness.
Beverly DeMotte is a teacher at Uniontown High School who appeared before the school board to ask that the school’s Red Raider mascot be changed as she believes that it is offensive to Native Americans.