Discussion for article #227082
If they were “good Americans” in Coachella why would they even want to be associated with Arabs?
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Pekin, IL, made a similar choice.
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Not surprised considering its the Coachella Valley. We have our share of ignorants here too unforuntately
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I’m sure this mascot was originally created as a term or display of honor towards Arab-Americans.
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Right! They’re bitching up about this, but I bet some of them are saying, “YOU LEAVE MAH REDSKINS ALONE!”
Schools need to wise up, and stick to choosing charismatic megafauna for mascots - bears, dolphins, foxes, tigers, etc.
However, my personal favorite, fondly remembered as our arch rival, are the Horace Greeley High School Quakers (Chappaqua, NY). I can’t wait for a bunch of angry, radicalized, fundamentalist Quakers to get up in arms about that.
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i read in another article it that “the Arab mascot has existed since the 1920’s to recognize the desert region’s reliance on date farming, a traditionally Middle Eastern crop. Over the years, the mascot evolved from a turban-wearing horseman carrying a lance to a standing figure with a scowl and a traditional head covering.”
They are keeping the name and have a new mascot acceptable to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, who first made the complaint.
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The “Fighting Quakers”? Would they shun their players for being overly aggressive?
Now that would make an enterprising topic for a senior research paper: what historical events, local demographic changes and prevailing attitudes led to changing the original school logo.
Politely request that they go back, politely request that they go back, waaaaay back.
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How about instead the Coachella Valley “tokers?”
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Do they have Nixon as their mascot?
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That’s really strange. It sounds like the depiction of the Arab actually got worse over time.
“The Desert Sun reported that the Coachella Valley Unified School District announced the decision to change the mascot on Friday. The mascot wore a large caricature mask with a large, hooked nose, a thick beard and a headscarf.”
The bad news is that the School is going to replace the headscarf with a black hat, and rename the team the Coachella Valley Lubavitchers.
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Of course it did. Until the creation of Israel, there was nothing “wrong” with Arabs, in the minds of Americans. Nothing strange about it.
It seems a little odd that they don’t mention the actual name of the team. Is it just “the Coachella Valley High Arabs”? Because that just sounds weird. Or is it something like the Sheikhs?
Oy vey!