AURORA — What’s in a high school mascot? Obviously more than fuzzy, furry creatures, logos that promote power, strength and humor, and images that represent a geographical area.
Much more than that, if you’ve followed recent news events.
What has been an on-again, off-again debate nationally for decades regarding Indian-related mascots attained on-again status locally last week when the House Education Committee voted 6-5 to approve a measure by Democratic representatives that would allow a panel to decide whether a school district’s depiction of an Indian mascot is respectful.
Come on, man. Do we really need our representatives involved in determining mascots? The ability of special-interest groups to insist they have become offended, then expect something to be done about it — immediately — never ceases to amaze me.
While I don’t have an opinion about the Washington Redskins, I certainly can talk about high school mascots in Colorado, such as the Arapahoe Warriors and the Lamar Savages. Arapahoe, which features Sitting Eagle Gymnasium, had its arena christened in 1997 by Anthony Sitting Eagle, a tribal elder who has since passed away. An Indian artist drew one of the best murals you’ll ever see. And in the early 1990s, I featured the then-powerful Lamar baseball team and broached the subject of the school mascot with principal L.D. Elarton, who adamantly claimed his school was honoring the Savage, whom he called “noble and proud.”
Also, I happen to know about the Cheyenne Mountain Indians, the Loveland Indians, the Montrose Indians, the Strasburg Indians, the Yuma Indians, the Frederick Warriors, the Central (G.J.) Warriors … all of those schools made it a point to honor Indians who once lived in Colorado.
No, this isn’t about caricatures, or making fun of a race of people. The intent in naming the mascots was to honor Indians.
If certain politicians and the PC police get their way and force area schools to change their mascot, what’s next? Should the town of Kiowa be asked to change its name? What about the Arapaho National Forest? Does that have to go too?
Do we punish those who have mascots that offend just a little, or those who are said to offend a lot?
What would we do if, say, descendents of Vikings (used by Denver North and Valley) or Sailors (Steamboat Springs) all of a sudden had a problem with the mascots? How about owners of Bulldogs?
My last name is Devlin, but I don’t blink at Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish or a funny-looking leprechaun wearing boxing gloves. (I get it. It’s a logo. A mascot. Let’s move on.) How about those who farm beets in Brush? They’re the Beetdiggers. The locals seem to be OK with it.
Politicians surely have better and more pertinent issues to deal with. The answer to the mascot debate isn’t fining already cash-strapped schools as much as $25,000 per month if they don’t change mascots.
Certainly, intelligent conversation between schools and tribes — it happened at Arapahoe — would be a starting point if there is legitimate concern about a school’s mascot. Do that before forcing change and wiping clean traditional logos, uniforms and murals.
Better yet, can we stop being offended so easily?
Please?
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or
