Thoughts from Polly's Granddaughter: Mascots

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Adding Insult to Injury: McAdory High School

Wow! As if it wasn't bad enough that the cheerleaders made an offensive sign, the principal of the school, Tod Humphries, while talking to Indi an Country Today, said,

" Most people in the South are part Native American. If you asked our classes who has Native American ancestry, about half the class will raise their hands. The Creeks were here—the Cherokee and the Scots-Irish came in here and intermarried. Most of us here have Native American blood, however ignorance can still slip in about the history of us."

Half the school is now "Native American? The history of "us"? Good grief! How many teaching moments does this school need?

Here's a lesson for them - "Genealogy without documentation is mythology!"

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Inappropriate Mascots: The message they send

By now, most have probably seen this picture making its way through social media sites.

Because society says it is acceptable to have mascots based on a race of people, these high school students apparently believed the above run through sign was also acceptable.

Sadly, there are people who will still say there is nothing wrong with the sign and it is just in reference to history or the past. This is not okay. Though the Trail of Tears of the Cherokee is the most well known, many Indian nations had their own "trail of tears." Each was horrific and many people died.

To anyone who still can't see the big deal about it, I'd like to ask you this question: What if the opposing team had been from a private Jewish high school and the sign said, "Hey (insert Jewish school name here), Get ready to experience another Holocaust, part 2"? Would that be okay? If not, then maybe you finally see the point.

Note: The school has issued an apology.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.