Two North Shore school districts with Indian mascots are being urged to change them to avoid offending Native Americans.
The Manhasset and Sewanhaka school districts are both receiving heat from community members and alumni to retire the mascots as the Washington Redskins football team announced that it would retire its name, which Native American groups have called a racial slur, and logo.
A Change.org petition for Manhasset to change its mascot now has nearly 1,900 signatures. Commenters on the petition refer to the Indian mascot as outdated and “racist.”
“Native American have been abused and mocked enough for centuries,” one signer wrote. “Why would we want this?”
One alumnus called the mascot “disrespectful,” and remembered getting into “an intense argument” with her senior class after one suggested “dressing up as Indians” for a spirit day.
“Despite trying to explain the racist, disrespectful, and hurtful nature of this act, the majority of them did not see and could not understand why what they were suggesting was wrong,” the alumnus wrote. “Their rationale was that is was our school’s mascot and thus they were representing our school spirit. However a demeaning and racist depiction of an entire racial group that were killed and forced out of their home to create the town of Manhasset that stands today is not something that should represent any kind of ‘school spirit.’ The mascot needs to be changed now to change this incorrect perception and belief.”
Yet another commenter said the mascot made Manhasset “look out of touch with the national dialogue.”
“How can Manhasset claim to be a leader in education if it is so behind other schools in this way?” the commenter wrote. “I doubt Manhasset intentionally means to have a racist mascot, but public perception nationally and locally puts us on the wrong side of this.”
District Superintendent Vincent Butera said in a statement to Blank Slate Media that he was “aware of the petition.”
“I have and will continue to meet with groups of students and alumni regarding this issue in order to gain input from a variety of stakeholders within our community,” Butera said. “I am committed to examining this issue in a thoughtful and inclusive manner as we move forward.”
As was noted by many petition signatories, a Native American head logo, similar to the design used by the former Redskins, that used to adorn the Manhasset football field had been removed some years ago and replaced with an M, but the Indian name and logo remain on the school’s uniforms.
On its website, the Manhasset Booster Club sells clothing, including T-shirts and hats, and other merchandise with the Indian name, but does not have any apparel with an Indian head logo. Efforts to reach the Booster Club for comment were unavailing.
An Indian logo does remain in Manhasset Secondary School’s lobby, and the school’s newspaper is called Indian Ink. Additionally, a graphic used by the district comprises an M with an orange and blue feather hanging off its top right corner.
“It may be expensive to change our uniforms,” a petition commenter wrote on Change.org. “It may be ‘sad’ to remove the Manhasset Indian from the lobby of the high school. We have so many other things to be proud of, and I’m sure we can find something different to put on our orange and blue sweatshirts.”
Southwest of Manhasset, Sewanhaka High School’s mascot, also an Indian, was brought into question during a July 7 Board of Education meeting, according to a Long Island Herald story.
“As a result of some community concern, the Board of Education and administration will be surveying each of the school mascots to gauge their appropriateness to the school and their community values,” Sewanhaka Central High School District Superintendent James Grossane said. “We will be sharing any updates on this matter at future Board meetings.”
A Change.org petition that was created to change the school’s mascot on July 6 had 638 signatures as of Tuesday.
“To have students dress up in feathers and different outfits that belong to Natives is disrespectful,” the petition’s description reads. “They do not understand the history behind these outfits and accessories. They most likely do not know much about Native history in general because Native history is not taught in school.”
One signer who commented on the petition said, “I swear to god I’ve been saying this for years. They dressed up a white guy as our ‘mascot’ in a Native American headdress!!! This has gotta go.”
Sewanhaka’s school newspaper is called The Chieftain, and the yearbook is called Totem.
