>We have a parent who currently is upset that we are the Mosheim
>Indians. Her husband is Native American(she even uses the word
>Indian) and feel that
>it is derogatory and hurts her children's self-esteem and other
>politically correct phrases. We are a school of over 900 students
>and do not want to overthrow 100 years of school history and
>tradition for one parent. We do not do any type of war chant or have
>any type of violent figures in our gym or classrooms.
Dear Martha,
Am I understanding you correctly that you have a sports team
called the Mosheim Indians? If so, I hope you will rethink your
position of defending the name. Can you imagine an Alaskan team
named the Juneau Jews? or the Nebraska Negroes? How about the
Colorado Catholics? We have had 100 years and much more of hearing
American Indian people put down so much that it can easily slip by us
when our language and culture use Indian names in demeaning ways.
I've been working on this issue (and others of racism in our country)
for many years, yet heard myself say to another teacher that the kids
were "like wild Indians" today. I thought, Wow! The lessons I got
in racism from my culture sure are deep! Never thought I'd hear
myself say that.
You say you don't want to change a 100 year old tradition for
one parent. Changing the name wouldn't be for just one parent. It
would not only be for that family and any other family with American
Indian ancestry in the school. It would also be for every other
child in every other family in the school, helping to begin to
reverse 300-plus years of demeaning Indians.
Here are some quotes from an article on school mascots:
Go White Boys!
Victory to the Black Skins!
Rah, Rah Chinamen!
Can you imagine any school district in the country tolerating
such racist cheerleading for sports teams? Of course not. So why
are millions of children attending schools with mascots and sports
teams such as the Redmen, the Red Raiders and the Indians?
Native Americans make several points to [explain their] view
Why are Indians used as names for teams and mascots in the
same way as badgers, gophers or eagles? Are Indian people equated
with animals and seen as less than human?
The mascots [and team names] help people to deny the
modern-day existance of "real Indians" living and working in the 21st
century.
"Racially demeaning stereotypes are dangerous," notes Carol
Hand, a Native American parent who has filed a legal complaint
against the Milton school mascots. "By tolerating the use of
demeaning stereotypes in our public school systems, we desensitize
entire generations of children."
by Barbara Miner from the book Beyond Heroes and Holidays, A
Practical Guide to K-12 Anti-Racist, Multicultural Education and
Staff Development (Network of Educators on the Americas)
This is a big issue in many places in the country. Check these out:
http://www.main.nc.us/wncceib/MascotLinks.htm
http://earnestman.tripod.com/1indexpage.htm
http://earnestman.tripod.com/cartoons5.htm
--
Johanna Halbeisen, Library Media Teacher
Woodland Elementary School (preK-4)
80 Powder Mill Rd, Southwick, MA 01077
johanna.newsong@rcn.com
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