Excuses, excuses: Wichita district should stop stalling and ditch racist mascots
The list of sports teams and school districts retiring their racist mascots is growing.
Washington D.C.’s NFL franchise dropped its “Redskins” name and Indian head logo.
The Cleveland Indians stopped using their cartoonish Chief Wahoo.
Members of the Shawnee Mission school district voted unanimously this week to remove Native American mascots at their schools, including a nearly-century-old “Indians” moniker at Shawnee Mission North High.
Wichita, meanwhile, remains disturbingly silent.
School board members for the state’s largest school district said last summer that they won’t consider changing the name of North High School’s “Redskins” mascot until after the COVID-19 pandemic, when members of the public can once again attend school board meetings in person.
“The board is committed to listening and engaging our district stakeholders in these important decisions about education,” board president Sheril Logan said at the time.
“Specifically, we have received a request about . . . having an open discussion about changing the North High mascot due to the derogatory nature of the Redskins mascot to the Native American community.”
Excuses, excuses.
If someone spray-painted the n-word on a Wichita school building, would board members wait until we could get together for an open discussion? (Judging from some of the horrifying e-mails and phone calls I’ve received, I guarantee you someone would think it’s OK.)
Or would they acknowledge the term is racist and repugnant, and remove it immediately?
Would they stall or take action? Would they swivel and sidetrack, or would they lead?
Wichita board members have made plenty of consequential decisions over the past 10 months amid COVID-19 restrictions.
They decided when and how to begin the school year. They approved spending $24 million on digital devices to keep students learning. They canceled fall sports and then voted to allow them after hundreds of athletes protested the decision.
They sent students home during a surge in coronavirus cases and brought them back for in-person learning earlier this month.
Those decisions were difficult and controversial. But despite the pandemic and related protocols — including a self-imposed ban on in-person public comment at school board meetings — the business of the school district goes on.
So should leaders’ commitment to do the right thing.
“Redskin” is a derogatory term for Native Americans. It’s insulting, offensive and racist, and it’s past time for North High to ditch it and move forward.
When I wrote about this topic last summer, a reader called to tell me he supported keeping the North High mascot:
“That school is placed on the location of a Native American site and is an honor to the Native Americans, and there have been many Native Americans graduate from that school,” he said.
Interestingly, he didn’t use the term “Redskins” in his message. He didn’t say the mascot was loved by “Redskins” everywhere, or that all his “Redskin” friends are just fine with it. Know why? Because the word is derogatory and offensive.
It’s past time to truly respect Native Americans’ history and culture. Shedding racist mascots is a necessary first step — so enough with the side-stepping.
