Alina Balasoiu, a junior at Lamar High School, returns to campus on March 31 after playing in a soccer match in a field behind the school. The school’s nickname, the Savages, and logo are praised and decried in different circles. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post)
Re: “Lamar, home of the Savages, defends mascot as culture wars rage,” April 3 news story.
After reading this front-page story, which devoted, by my count, three-and-one-half times the column inches to Lamar High School’s side of the “Savages” issue, I was left wondering: When are you going to run the Native American side?
It seems to me that it really isn’t relevant whether American “Johnny-come-latelys” feel the word “savage” is respectful or not. At my high school, we called ourselves the Salt Hawks. Though it was hardly intended to instill fear in the hearts of our opponents, it was a name we took just as much pride in as any other high school without demeaning anyone.
The word “savage,” according to Wikipedia, means “an uncivilized or feral human, a barbarian.” When America was being colonized by white folk, the word was often coupled with the word “naked.”
Would we say it was OK for an American high school today to use the nickname “Wetbacks” for its swimming team?
Lewis J. Thompson III,Denver
This letter was published in the April 12 edition.During a drive across Eastern Colorado several years ago, a colleague and I passed the time making up names for the sports teams of the towns we passed through.
Among those were the Limon Lemons, the Hugo Victors, the Lamar Hedys, and, of course, the Wiley Coyotes.
While not very aggressive-sounding, they could produce some interesting logos.
Don Kibbe,Denver
This letter was published in the April 12 edition.
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