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Nicknames are something that are endearing to people throughout their lives. Mine sure was: we were the W.R. Myers Rebels, complete with cartoon character Yosemite Sam as our mascot. I loved to proclaim that I was a Rebel and was proud to play for my school.
But what happens when your school's mascot could potentially have offensive and even racial underlying tones in it? We've seen many cases with college and professional teams who have come under scrutiny for their mascot. A few that come to mind include the NFL's Washington Redskins, Marquette University, the Florida State Seminoles, and the University of North Dakota.
Well, we now have a case that is hitting close to home. This from LocalNews8 in East Idaho:
"To "reinforce the importance of respect for others", the Teton School Board in Driggs has directed Teton High School administration to change its school mascot, the Redskins.
Superintendent Monte Woolstenhume said other reasons for the change included honoring the Native American community in Idaho and the nation and empowering students to recognize others for their character, not the color of their skin.
The board also determined that the community's flagship school should represent the community and student athletes in a positive and respectful manner.
Teton High School administration will work with students, staff, parents, alumni and the community beginning this fall to recommend a new mascot for the school.
The board said it wanted a mascot that can be displayed with pride throughout the high school and at other schools in its athletic conference without creating controversy for its potential offensiveness or appropriateness." (Taken from the LocalNews8 website)
This brings up the ever-continuous debate of if Native American mascots and nicknames are offensive to their respective tribes. We've heard recently that Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder, after repeatedly coming under pressure to change the mascot of the franchise, has said that he will "never change the team's name so long as he is the owner of it".
Florida State University has also been pressured to move away from their "Seminoles" mascot. However, the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma gave Florida State the green light to use the mascot.
Marquette University, however, did end up changing their mascot. Marquette had used the "Warriors" moniker as their mascot for 50 years when, in July of 1994, the university changed their nickname from "Warriors" to "Golden Eagles" on the grounds that "Warriors" was offensive to Native Americans.
Another mascot battle that has been widely publicized has been that of the University of North Dakota and their "Fighting Sioux" nickname. The NCAA had pressured UND into dropping the nickname, even imposing postseason tournament bans on their athletes if they didn't drop it. This case eventually went to the voters of North Dakota in June 2012, who overwhelmingly decided to drop the nickname. The State Board of Education also voted to discontinue the use of the mascot and, as a result, UND has been without a mascot ever since. Interestingly enough, according to North Dakota state law, the university is prohibited from selecting a new nickname until 2015.
Now that's a lot of examples from collegiate and professional level programs and teams. What about on the high school level in Idaho?
Out of all the schools in Idaho, I counted 16 team mascots that could potentially be offensive and deemed inappropriate (of course, there could be more or less, based on your guidelines for selection and personal opinion). This brings up a good question though: if Teton High School is being directed to change its nickname because of the aforementioned reason, will other schools in Idaho who share a resemblance of that nickname be forced to do so as well?
This is seemingly what the debate is all about. There are many schools in Idaho who use the nickname "Indians", a few who use "Warriors", a couple who use "Savages", and one who uses "Braves". We better not forget about the use of "Maniacs" as well. I've heard both sides of the argument on that one and it seems hard to find the truth about that mascot.
This isn't the first time that an Idaho school has changed a mascot. Back in 1999, the Salmon School Board was threatened with a $100,000 lawsuit by the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and the Media if they didn't abandon their mascot, the 'Savages'. Members on that board said that the 'Savages' nickname was derogatory to Native Americans. In the end, the group and the school board decided to focus on the logo, not the nickname, as it would have cost more than $100,000 to fight this in court. As we all know now, Salmon High School's nickname is still the 'Savages', but their logo is just a typeface of the word 'Savages'.
I'm not here to bash the Teton School Board for directing Teton High School to change their nickname. I'm also not here to say if it was the right thing for them to do. What I am here to say is that because this has been done, a new precedent has been set, one that could emanate throughout all of high school athletics in Idaho.
So that leaves the question for you to debate: should other schools in Idaho explore changing their nickname if it is deemed offensive? Should they change just the logo (like Salmon) or anything related to the nickname (like Teton)? I, for one, would love to hear the opinions and thoughts of everyone from around the state, especially those of you who are attached to a school that could qualify for this debate. If you would like to participate in the discussion, please leave your comments below.
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