BY STEVE HASSEY
This opinion article is in opposition to Jonathan Hanley’s article supporting the Warrior mascot.
As the national debate around the Washington Redskins logo rages in the background, we should take a moment to reflect on Mariemont’s own record with races. We are a school district that displays little socioeconomic or racial diversity, so we should be particularly aware of the image we put forth and the prejudices we set. We cannot continue to perpetuate the racism of Christopher Columbus and of the 19th century American government.
By carrying the Warrior logo, we trivialize an entire race into a simple caricature. We take all Native Americans and place them into a minute category, a category into which they have not fit for centuries. As a largely homogenous community, one that was 96.3% white as of the 2010 census, many of us do not experience nor understand the racism that remains readily apparent in American society. As a member of this community, I fall victim to the same innate prejudices that we should strive to eradicate.
Native American oppression is closely intertwined with what we call American history. We all know that in 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. This event, detailed as a major part in the rise of the United States of America, is the start of the Native American downfall that continues to this day. Columbus believed he had landed in India, and so he noted the natives down in his journal as Indians. Today, the public refers to them by that ignorant, counterfeit name. The term “Indian” does not name the native people of America, rather it puts a name to Columbus’ ignorance. And the term “Indian” when describing the race of people native to this land only demeans them.
Over the next several centuries, the American government cheated the Native Americans at every turn–signing treaties to guarantee the Indians’ territorial integrity and subsequently turning a blind eye as settlers drove Indians from their land. In the 1830s, Andrew Jackson forced the Cherokee Indians from their homes in Georgia. More than one fourth of the Native Americans who set across the country on the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma did not complete the journey, dying a premature death. The American government put these men and women to death without any sort of trial, displacing an entire people from their rightful land. Over the course of several centuries, the Indians were pushed into decrepit reservations.
These issues may seem like a distant memory, a black mark on America’s history, but one that we have successfully stamped out. However, they relate to both the present day and to Mariemont. Once annually, on a brisk fall Thursday, our community gathers around its cheerleaders and football players, cheering around a massive bonfire. I will admit it, I have been in attendance at this bonfire two times during my four years at Mariemont High School. I have been a part of the looming issue. As the fire rages and the crowd of hundreds looks on, the football captains place a mannequin modeled after an Indian Hill football player, a Brave, which is another kind of Native American, into the massive flames. White child stands next to white adult and we imitate an Indian ceremony in despicable fashion.
With our lack of diversity, we should be making an effort to be more thoughtful about races. With this in mind, I wholeheartedly recommend a permanent change of Mariemont’s mascot.
