The Emerald Tower

Debate lingers about 2 schools’ mascots

(hannah mitchell, hmitchell@charlotteobserver.com) two school mascots that take identified a catawba county community for decades set off a debate here last week more raceway and whether it’s ok to use an ethnic image to promote coach dignity.

the catawba county infuse with timber settled the issue officially when it voted monday to stand by the st. stephens indian and the arndt middle school redskin as the schools’ mascots.

but debate lingers not far from the images. circle officials, parents and students chance they honor american indians by depicting them as brave and noble, while inherited american advocates consider such mascots derogatory representations.

eddie davis, a former stately school lodge member and erstwhile president of the n.c. association of educators, is traveling the state, asking public school districts to get rid of american indian-related mascots.

he said the symbols offend american indians. after he left the state kindergarten board in 2001, the board asked districts to consider retiring such mascots, and some districts require since done so. now davis has taken on the ground himself, petitioning districts that be experiencing the mascots to get rid of them.

st. stephens high school principal deanna taylor, who graduated from arndt and st. stephens, said the mascots think highly american indians. she assumes that officials adopted the symbols because the county is named for the catawba indians.

taylor said the community hasn’t called championing the mascots’ displacement and that unless residents or junior high school or state officials do so, the images will remain.

Duck commander

“it’s never been adapted to in a derogatory way,” she said. “it’s in any case been about courage, with reference to being something that’s admired.”

taylor did remark the school has piecemeal scaled back partake of of the american indian warrior image, opting more often representing a hefty “s” for st. stephens, though copies of some indian wiliness prints remain on view walls and the school reservoir is called “the totem pole.”

st. stephens senior alexa roddy said the indian has always represented the school and that it would be expensive to exchange it. “i’ve never felt like we’ve been fresh in any started,” she said. “i don’t feel like i would be offended if it was my ethnicity, but i can’t roughly for solid since it’s not.”

taylor said census figures show that two of st. stephens’ 1,300 students count themselves as american indians.

davis said he’s disappointed about the restricted school board’s decision. he pointed out that, in increment to the state school management, the n.c. commission of indian affairs and the n.c. report advisory council on indian education have called for the end of such mascots.”

“tradition,” he said, “seems to trump the feature that we ought to press for different groups of people.”
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This entry was posted on Monday, November 3rd, 2008 at 12:48 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.