Wichita North High, it’s past time to change the Redskins nickname
Wichita’s North High school was closed this spring during the COVID-19 pandemic, but a series of signs on the lawn along 13th Street congratulated graduates and proclaimed the school’s 91-year-old nickname:
“Proud to be a Redskin.”
The mascot doesn’t inspire pride for everyone. Many, understandably, view it as vulgar, insulting and racist.
And it’s past time to change it.
Washington D.C.’s NFL franchise announced Monday that it will drop the Redskins name and Indian head logo, bowing to decades of criticism and responding to recent calls for racial justice.
Those same concerns have prompted numerous protests at North High over the years. Every so often — the last time was 2013 — someone writes a letter or addresses the Wichita school board and asks that the high school reconsider its mascot, which is a derogatory term for Native Americans. And every time, school and district leaders have kept the name.
They have pointed to North High’s rich tradition in academics and sports, with alumni that include photojournalist W. Eugene Smith, businessman Phil Ruffin and NFL running back Barry Sanders.
They have quoted surveys of current and former students that showed support for the mascot.
They have said the Redskins nickname and traditions — including, at one time, a cheerleader “war dance” before basketball games — doesn’t denigrate Native Americans at all, but rather celebrates their rich and beautiful culture.
That’s a bold argument to make in 2020. Widespread protests that followed the killing of George Floyd have led to dozens of Confederate memorials being toppled, defaced or slated for removal.
Statues of Christopher Columbus have been targeted as well, as voices rise against historic and systemic racism and oppression.
Quaker Oats announced in June that it would retire Aunt Jemima. Plantation Rum apologized for using the word “plantation.”. Grammy Award-winning country group Lady Antebellum shed the “Antebellum,” and the Dixie Chicks dropped “Dixie.”
And now, after decades of Washington Redskins owners vowing that they’d never get rid of the name, they’ve joined the better-late-than-never crowd.
If Washington can do it, Wichita can, too.
North High wouldn’t be the first high school to change an outdated mascot. When South High opened in 1959, their teams were known as the Colonels; that changed to Titans in the 1970s, and a student-designed red and blue logo is still used today.
Changing North High’s mascot might not be high on the Wichita school board’s priority list right now. Kansas schools are busy planning and preparing for how they will reopen schools in the midst of a pandemic, and state budget cuts could affect school funding.
They’ve got their hands full. But ditching a cringe-worthy nickname would send an important and timely message to young people, parents and the community:
Things are changing. We’re evolving. We’re through embracing racial stereotypes in the name of tradition. We can find something suitable that would honor North High’s Native American culture, art and architecture.
It’s about respect, reverence and racial justice. And it’s about time.
