In 2017 local news stations in the DFW area published a story about the widely criticized mascot of Keller High School. It began with the Society of Native Nations but only two thousand supported changing their mascot during this time. However, there has been a resurgence in the culturally insensitive mascot abolishment with a petition which has over twenty five thousand people signed with the hashtag #notyourmascot.
Students in this school are forced to wear headdresses and costumes to sport events, dance competitions, even dress up days to show school spirit. Many students have come forward with their opinions stating their uncomfort with the appropriation. It is clear to see that if students don’t want to be associated with a school’s pride and joy then there should be some changes. Their drill team being called Indianettes and the encouragement of Native American Indian costumes aid in further “normalizing” the blatant racism. The school is promoting cultural insensitivity into their education and stereotyping native American culture.
Pictures from Keller High School's Past Yearbooks:
The white teachers and school admins that represent Keller High School should not be deciding on the indigenous peoples’ behalf. If they believe they are being misrepresented then they are responsible for changing what their school is seen as. Native Americans have a right to their race and ethnicity and should not be used as a mascot. This heinous action does not honor or respect the history of the Native Americans' and the treatments that they had to suffer through just for students to appropriate their traditional clothing while you watch football on the land they battled on, this is farthest from showing respect. It’s not imitation, it’s mockery.
Changing a mascot because it is simply offensive is not uncommon for many schools and organizations to do, yet Keller High School has never taken action to change it even when the subject has come up. Richland High School and Birdville ISD have recently changed their mascot which had a confederate theme. After 26,000 signatures on change.org, Birdvilles’ council finally voted to remove the mascot and selected a new one to represent their school instead. Keller ISD students have started a change.org petition, which has well over 25,000 signs for the change of this offensive mascot. However, the board still has yet to take action.
During the Keller ISD school board meeting in 2017 to change the mascot, parents and alumni declared that the mascot is a part of Keller tradition (Barr). But this “tradition” needs to be stopped. Using ethnicity or race as a mascot is in no means right. Change is necessary to stop ignorance. Acknowledging the problem is the first step to change and the Keller community wants to undergo a change to this racist mascot that has been present in the community for over 75 years. Other schools have taken the fact that using ethnicity as a mascot is unethical. Many schools have taken action to stop discrimination by using offensive mascots and names. In 2002, North Carolina State Advisory Council on Indian Education passed a resolution “in Support of Elimination American Indian Descriptions Naming Mascots, Logos, and Sport Team Nicknames for North Carolina Public Schools.” Not only that, in 2019, Maine became the first state to ban Native American mascots at school. Taking action to change is important right now to stop further discrimination that the school implies. Fixing their mascot is simply long overdue, all schools should be dropping the racist and offensive symbols to further better our community and what we all should stand for.
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