Algood's "Redskin" mascot needs to be replaced

Spencer Green - Senior | Opinions

On Feb. 4, the Putnam County school board voted against forming a committee to investigate the possibility of changing the Algood Middle School mascot, the Redskins. Statistics show that nearly 0% of Algood is Native American and 95.44% of Algood is white. Any educated person should be able to conclude that the minority is not properly represented.

The etymology of the word “redskin” dates back to 1769, when it was used by an American Indian sent to an American Lieutenant Colonel wishing to traverse the Upper Mississippi Valley. Throughout the majority of history, the word has been used for mass prosecution of American Indians.

Since then, the use of the word “redskin” has grown considerably within the world of sports, being used by sports teams such as the Washington, Boston, and of course the Algood Redskins.

The word “redskin” was used pejoratively by historical American media outlets such as the Winona Daily Republican to put bounties on the heads of innocent Indians.

Allowing the Algood Redskins to keep their name solely based on the majority opinion of the local residents of Algood is objectively wrong for more than a few reasons. Martin Luther King Jr. once said “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” meaning that a decision shouldn’t always be made with only the majority opinion in mind. The decision not to change the mascot, claiming that the majority of students are “proud to be a redskin” is a near-parallel to the anti-civil rights movement argument.

A Change.org petition with over 3,500 signatures was created by an Algood resident in an attempt to change the mascot, although no change has been made in response. The current administration has nothing to gain from changing the Redskins mascot, and therefore they’ve decided to keep it until further notice.

A board member planned on putting together a change committee, but the idea was quickly rejected. Corby King has also expressed his disinterest in forming a committee, since the ‘majority’ of people have no desire to change. The problem with that statement is the fact that the majority doesn’t always support what is right. Isolating the hurt feelings of a few to please the majority is not ethical.

No one would ever respectfully address a Native American as a ‘redskin’, so why should a nearly all-white middle school be proud of using it as their mascot? History proves that the derogatory word “redskin” was used offensively in multiple different scenarios. Native Americans were mistreated in many ways: beat, raped, murdered, etc. They were seen as objects rather than human beings. With this in mind, how could anyone be proud to be called a redskin?