Protest deemed “abusive” to school mascot
Students don T-shirts to protest new mascot
Updated 10 March 2005: School removes online forum for discussion of mascot issue. Henry Sibley students invited to ZI. Details at bottom of post.
Around 100 students at Henry Sibley High School in Independent School District 197 got a lesson on sensitivity toward stuffed costumes as well as cracking down on civil liberties. The students were reprimanded for showing support for an older school mascot.
About 100 Henry Sibley students on Monday wore T-shirts calling for the return of the Sibley Warriors’ old Indian mascot.
Students said they were informed they would be suspended during school today for failing to remove the shirts; Henry Sibley principal Beth Borgen said she knew of only one disciplinary case. Some parents are appealing to the district’s superintendent.
The shirts, designed and sold by a senior, call for a replacement of the Sibley Warriors’ knight mascot, introduced in 1999. The front, with the knight crossed out, reads: “Got warrior? We don’t.” The T-shirt’s back features the school’s old Indian logo with a slogan “Warrior Pride � 1954 to 2005.”
Borgen stated that the t-shirts were against the school policy. The policy prohibits clothing that is disruptive to school activities.
“I respect students’ right to their opinions, but I also would ask that they present an issue to administration in a meaningful and productive manner,” she said. The T-shirts, she wrote in a Monday letter to staff, “are abusive to our current mascot, are promoting a mascot which the Native American community had deemed offensive � and are a distraction to the learning environment.”
A distraction from the learning environment? I don’t see how. On the contrary, the organized (and silent) protest could have been used as an excellent example and learning opportunity. Offensive to the Native American community? I find this incredibly offensive. I am descended from Indians and I have never once said I was offended by sports teams paying tribute to my ancestors. My feelings run quite the opposite in fact (so long as those teams are kicking butt anyway). Grouping any minority into a “community” that you speak for is the worst form of politically correct marginalization I can imagine. Finally - abusive to the current mascot? Just what sort of joke is that? When you get to the point of anthropomorphizing a sports caricature it is past time to step back and take a few deep breaths.
There is a debate over the mascot in the school’s online forums. From the school main page click on the “Forum” link in the left sidebar.
(Tip credit to Bob Woolley)
Update
It’s been brought to my attention that the discussion forum originally described in this post has been removed. From Brian Wagner:
When this story first appeared, I followed the link to the high school website and checked out their forum. There were a handful of threads, but no activity on any of them except the “warrior mascot” discussion about this issue. I got involved, made a few posts, and students were posting. It had 70 posts and the next largest thread had fewer than 6. Anyway, today I went to check out the forum, and the school has removed the forum from their website. Apparently, they felt the need to further shut down discussion of the issue.
This is an open invitation for all students of Henry Sibley to use the comment area of this post as an open discussion forum to talk about the school mascot issue.
This is saf. I hate the fact that so many mascotts are being changed because of a few vocal people. You know what suspend the kids, may be they will get a chance to get a edjucation when they are out of school.
I think it’s unfortunate this isn’t negociated in a more positive way. I’m sure it is a tragic reminder of suffering, and why not use the opportunity to represent Native American presence in a more positive light; one that expressed forgiveness and moving forward in social relations. I wonder how students in England would represent a German troop as a mascot. A similar event happened at my son’s school.
A local tribe representative came out and gave the children a long lecture that the kids resented. The school did very little to prepare the kids for the emotional assault and then removed the mascot. These kids would like a voice, I doubt they feel that strongly about the mascot.
First of all, the mascot change is ridiculous. If it’s such an insult to name a team after a group, why aren’t there any teams called the “scumbags” or the “felons?”
Second, this t-shirt protest and the resulting suspensions have Tinker v. Des Moines written all over them. I think it’s time for a school district to be hit with punitive damages for something like this. It’s the only way they’ll ever learn.
One of the exceptions to Tinker v. Des Moines is disruption of the education process. If the discussion among students was making it difficult to get them to class on time or get classes started becasue everyone was talking about it, the school would win on the disruption clause.
The renaming of schools with Indian-related names is fairly common.(I’ve been chastised by friends who are active in the Indian rights movement that Native American is not actually the preferred nomenclature for multiple Indian nations grouped together under one heading, since it incorporates the conquerors’ name into the name. While they are proud to be Americans, they are also proud to be Indians and prefer that term unless someone is addressing a single nation — then the tribal name, Sioux, Cherokee, Navajo, etc., should be used.)
Of course, I’m sure there are Indians who feel otherwise about the terminolgy, but I’ll go with my friends’ explanations.
dweeb said: I think it’s time for a school district to be hit with punitive damages for something like this. It’s the only way they’ll ever learn.
I appreciate the sentiment, but it just won’t work. Any punitive damage settlement against the school district would end up being paid by the taxpayers, i.e., the parents who would have to sue to get such a settlement. That accomplishes nothing except getting the whole community angry. They’ve got enough problems without compounding matters by getting lawyers involved. Stop by Overlawyered to see what happens at that point.
Aren’t they normally European knights being shown? Y’know, the ones who were supposed to be defenders of Christianity and such? Couldn’t you consider those to be offensive to, oh, I don’t know, anyone non-Christian or from somewhere the Europeans went crusading?
Yes the knights are still offensive in Muslim countries. My son bought a chess set in Turkey, the pieces were Muslim’s vrs the Christians knights. Hmm, maybe they could call themselves ‘the students’.
Do some in depth research on the “Noble” knights and the Crusades and you’ll find a group that basically pillaged, burned, killed and did whatever the heck they wanted. Chivalery came about so they wouldn;t kill each other while confined to the castle.
Ken has an excellent point. Rewards levied against school systems are paid out of the school system’s liability insurance. Premiums for that insurance are paid by taxpayers. The only good way to change policies is to change the policy makers.
On the other hand, a high profile case showing the stupidity of school board policies can be an effective message that change is needed.
The disruption exception must involve a specific disruption on the part of the students engaged in the expression. Discussion of the issue wouldn’t cut it. In Tinker v. Des Moines, the defendants argued that students who supported the war might react violently, and that was rejected as a disruption exception.
As for who suffers under punitive damages, in most states, the local voters control the school budget by voting on tax levies, and policy by voting for board members. An intelligent electorate can make sure the costs of damage awards fall in the right place - the job security of the administrators responsible, by wisely exercising their franchise.
Oh, wait, I said “intelligent electorate” and “wisely exercising their franchise” - silly me, I might as well have appealed to Santa Claus.
Never mind that second paragraph.
I hate how all these schools are giving up names and mascots they’ve had for decades, all because of poltical correctness. The students have every right to protest and wear shirts in protest. The principal obviously doesn’t know her Constitution very well, or thinks it doesn’t apply to high schoolers.
Let’s see, what current events could the children use this as a lesson for. Hmmmm, Ah China comes to mind, they control the internet and punish people (this is a fact, I’m an Anglo and lived in China for 5+ years. You need a permit from the police to have an internet account).
I remember “Stop the War” tee-shirts (as in Viet nam) when I was in HS (yeah I’m 50), somehow our school survived this silent outrage (Maybe the principle realized silent protest is better than forucing them to be vocal, we didin’t have the internet …. of course now neither do they).
Read the book “The Crusades Through Arabs Eyes” it uses contemporary Arab historians to describe the crusades …. very differnt from the Angloized version I was taught (somewhere between the two extremes is the truth)
I’m not sure what “Pre-Columbian North Amrican Aboriginals” preferred to be called currently. I’m not making light of this, it’s just over relativiely short periods of times groups evolve as to what they want to be called, e.g. National Assoc. of Colored People, then it became Negros, then Blacks, then/now Afro-Americans, now I’ve heard other terms. So having one person speak up for as diverse a group is just that person’s view. However, I find it commendable that the school took the time and effort to at least truly put a “face” with the issue.
Why not adopt the mascot “The Silent Scream” it somehow seems approriate, it’s a famous piece of art so it reflects “culture”. Of course just a red cirle with a slash throughout it might be a good one also. At peep rallies and games the students could cheer “NOT HERE YOU WON’T”
Anyway, Krystalnacht.
Be Safe
dave
How much of this do you think is due to ‘role confusion’ i.e. the administrators really run the school but want to ‘give the students a voice’ so let them choose mascots, etc, up to a limit, and the problems seem to occur when the students choose one thing but the administration isn’t prepared to agree.
Without trying to be too restrictive, perhaps students shouldn’t be caring about the school mascot or being offered a choice. The school was there long before they were, generally, and will be there long after they have left - it’s an institution, they’re just passing through. Trying to be ‘inclusive’ and ‘democratic’ leads to confusion and status-uncertainty among pupils - they’re there to learn, the administration is there to run things. If everyone understood this, perhaps there would be less conflict. I know it’s not very ‘modern’ but with so many kids going to school and basically acting like they run the place, I think it’s long overdue.
Kids go to school to learn. It’s not at all ‘part of the democratic process’ it’s an institution. If you don’t _want_ to be there, then fine - but while you’re there, just get on with learning, ok.
There is a group of Indians, who after all these years claim to be offended, by the mascot names.
They are going state by state and school districts, trying to get the changes made.
Problem for them is this, they do not speak for all Native Americans or Indians, which ever you prefer to be called.
They tried to pull this off in Tulsa, Ok. at the Union School District, for past two years. The School board voted, this year. There will be no change in the mascot name.
Oklahoma is noted for cowboys and indians. No changes here. The warriors are also located here.
This district changed to appease a group of people. They failed to ask their students, what they wanted.
Do you know there is a huge cost to a district for a mascot change? All handbooks ect. have to be reprinted. Many other items are also changed, which cost the tax-payer.
Schools are no longer a institution, they are a Corporation.
Children deserve to be heard.