ATHOL — Athol High School’s mascot has once again drawn the attention of activists who want to retire sports mascots that caricature Native Americans.
An effort to rid the Athol-Royalston School District of its Red Raiders logo, mounted just over two decades ago, met with overwhelming community pushback and ultimately went nowhere.
During a State House rally on Thursday of last week, the Rev. Vernon Walker of Massachusetts Peace Action declared, “Four hundred years after the Pilgrims have landed in Plymouth, it is long past time for Massachusetts to begin to reckon with its racist and damaging history with Native Americans.”
The rally was held to call for the replacement of the mascots in 37 Massachusetts school districts, including the Athol-Royalston district. The sports teams at Athol High School have long been known as the Red Raiders, and the school logo portrays a cartoonish, scowling Native American in full headdress, carrying a tomahawk in one hand and a spear in the other.
In a joint statement released last week, Athol-Royalston Regional School District’s School Committee Chair Lee Chauvette, Superintendent Darcy Fernandes and Athol High School Principal Dave King said that while the district will welcome a discussion on the Red Raiders mascot in the near future, its primary goal is planning for how to educate students in the fall.
“Currently, the district is consumed with preparing the district for potential reopening of school for September due to significant changes, guidelines and processes due to COVID-19,” the statement reads. “District administration is working diligently on this subject matter and it is the current primary focus.
“Regarding the Athol High School logo and moniker ‘Red Raiders,’ we are certainly willing to begin to meet to discuss this sensitive matter once our ‘reopening’ is discussed and decided and implemented for the new school year. The process of discussion of the logo issue should be held with the utmost respect to community and school involvement.
In response to an inquiry, Chauvette said that while the district has been contacted by members of the media, he has received no communication from constituents regarding the issue.
Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, whose district includes Royalston, has filed legislation directing the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to formulate regulations to bar public schools from using Native American names, mascots or imagery in their logos.
At Thursday’s rally, Comerford asked, “What does that image say to our Native students, or Native residents, and everybody in the commonwealth? It perpetuates racist stereotypes and white supremacy.”
State Rep. Susannah Whipps, I-Athol, however, is not a supporter of Comerford’s proposal.
“I think DESE has enough on their plate trying to make sure the commonwealth’s children are receiving the education and attention they deserve,” Whipps said. “Decisions about school mascots should be made locally, in my opinion.”
Native American-styled mascots are not the only ones to draw fire in recent memory. About two decades ago, the Winchendon School Committee was petitioned by a small group of residents to rid Murdock High School of its Blue Devil name and logo. Supporters of the move claimed they promoted Satanism. At the time, the School Committee voted unanimously to reject the petition.
In Franklin County, the Mohawk Trail Regional School District School Committee voted in May 2019 to remove all vestiges of a Native American mascot — including a large profile of a Plains Indian painted on the gym wall — although it elected to retain its team name, “Warriors.” It also noted Mohawk Trail Regional School would be referred to as “Mohawk Trail,” in reference to Route 2, which runs through the district.
In Turners Falls, the Gill-Montague Regional School District School Committee voted unanimously in May 2018 to adopt “Thunder” as Turners Falls High School’s mascot and sports nickname, replacing “Indians.”