Foxborough Faculty Committee votes to alter Native American mascot brand however maintain ‘Warrior’ identify

Colleges

“Our mission as a public college is to be for everybody, on a regular basis,” one college committee member who voted in favor of the part out mentioned after the vote.

After months of passionate debate, the Foxborough Faculty Committee voted Tuesday night time to part out the usage of Native American iconography of their district’s mascot brand.

The choice was a cut up vote among the many committee members with Richard Pearson, Brent Ruter, and Rob Canfield voting in favor, Sarah LiDonni voting towards, and Michelle Thackston abstaining.

“Our mission as a public college is to be for everybody, on a regular basis,” Ruter mentioned throughout the assembly. “And whereas I completely perceive [the image’s] which means, its significance to these individuals who maintain any image pricey, the place the crux for me comes is that our mission is to make sure a protected place for everybody.”

Thackston mentioned throughout the assembly that she was uncomfortable with phasing out the emblem whereas having nothing to interchange it with apart from an “F” for Foxborough.

LiDonni mentioned she felt the wording within the proposal was obscure. She suggested the committee to take no motion on the problem and as a substitute anticipate a choice on the state degree on the usage of Native American mascot logos in colleges.

However different committee members expressed concern that, had been the choice to be left as much as the state, the district can be pressured to do away with the Warriors identify as properly, because it has been related to Native People.

On that matter, the committee was united. In the course of the assembly, members voted unanimously to maintain the Warriors identify. 

What the ‘part out’ will imply for the district

The district won’t instantly cease utilizing sports activities gear with a Native American mascot. As a substitute, it’s going to merely not order new gear or settle for donations for varsity use with such a brand. This can enable sports activities gear with the emblem to get replaced with out the district having to waste objects which are nonetheless usable. 

Earlier than the committee voted on whether or not to maintain the emblem, Canfield tried to allay considerations about how a lot it might price the district to alter the emblem. He clarified that plenty of sports activities gear and the like will get changed or up to date continuously.

The costliest a part of the change can be changing the picture on the highschool gymnasium ground, which Canfield mentioned is estimated to price lower than $1,000. Total, he mentioned, the full price ticket for altering the emblem in all places can be lower than $2,000.

One cause the associated fee to alter the mascot brand is so low is that the district hasn’t ordered new uniforms with the Native American picture for just a few years. As such, many committee members mentioned they felt the choice to part out the emblem was merely persevering with within the path the district was already going. 

In the course of the assembly, the committee additionally voted to kind a committee of scholars, dad and mom, lecturers, coaches, and different stakeholders to think about what ought to substitute the picture of an Indigenous particular person within the Warriors brand. This movement handed 4 to 1, with solely LiDonni voting towards it. 

The general public weighs in

Video from the assembly confirmed that a couple of dozen folks got here to the assembly carrying clothes with the Native American mascot brand. Attendees interrupted committee members a number of occasions throughout the assembly, and throughout the vote on whether or not or to not maintain the emblem, many might be heard yelling “no.” 

Final week, the college committee held a discussion board to permit the general public to voice their opinions on whether or not to maintain or discard the emblem. In keeping with the city’s moderator, 88 folks signed as much as converse that night time, although far fewer really spoke on the discussion board. Of those that spoke, the variety of folks supporting both sides was about equal.

A number of Foxborough Excessive Faculty college students spoke on the discussion board. Cayden Hui, a junior who began a petition to alter the mascot brand that has garnered practically 1,000 signatures, identified that the Warriors brand is almost similar to the now-defunct Washington Redskins brand. 

“We consider that this mascot objectifies and perpetuates one-dimensional stereotypes of indigenous folks,” he mentioned. “The picture is of a Blackfeet chief. The Blackfeet Nation just isn’t positioned in Massachusetts and even New England. They’re positioned in Montana. We would not have any native historic ties to this picture.”

Hui argued that the emblem treats Indigenous tribes as interchangeable. 

“To have a picture of a Blackfeet chief to signify Indigenous folks in Massachusetts is like taking a picture of a Japanese emperor to signify your complete Asian race,” he mentioned. 

However different college students mentioned they needed to maintain the emblem. One pupil, who mentioned she was a part of the highschool ladies’ basketball crew, mentioned pupil athletes are happy with the awards they’ve earned that bear the emblem.

“It’s a lifestyle, not only a college mascot. It’s meant as a tribute to those that got here earlier than us and a message to those that will come after us,” she mentioned. “Play arduous, work arduous, help each other, and be a Warrior in each sense of the phrase. Why would you wish to erase our historical past and take all of that away from us?” 

The coed additionally identified that final spring, greater than 2,100 residents signed a petition to maintain the emblem.

The larger image

Indigenous activist group United American Indians of New England (UAINE) opposes the depiction of Native People as mascots. Within the final 10 years, at the least two payments to ban the apply have been launched within the Massachusetts Legislature. 

UAINE additionally revealed a listing of faculty districts in New England which nonetheless have a Native American mascot, although it hasn’t been up to date since October 2021. At the moment, 46 college districts nonetheless had Native American mascots and half of these had been positioned in Massachusetts, in keeping with the group. 

Some Massachusetts college districts, corresponding to Hanover and Pentucket Regional, have discarded their Native American mascot in the previous few years. However in 2021, Wakefield residents voted to maintain theirs.