This One’s For The Birds
My old buddy Kevin Cullen at the Boston Globe wrote a column the other day about the battle of changing school mascot names. Here we go again, Slip Mahoney.
In Vermont, the governor and state legislature passed a bill banning any mascot name that is considered racially or culturally insensitive. One school that’s under fire is the Missisquoi Valley Union High School in Stanton, Vermont, where 25% of students belong to the Abenaki tribe. The school’s mascot is the Thunderbird, a sacred symbol in Abenaki culture.
As usual, the people leading the charge are a pair of out-of-touch killjoys who didn’t consult the local Abenaki community before launching their crusade. If they had, they’d have learned that what the Abenaki really find offensive is the idea of taking away the mascot that they created in the first place. Chief Joanne Crawford, leader of the Abenaki Nation in Missisquoi, approved creating the Thunderbird mascot that is meant to “convey strength, perseverance, and heroism as key characteristics for all students to emulate.” They’ve filed a claim to reject changing the Thunderbird name, saying it was proposed by people who don’t understand their culture or history and have no right to speak for them.
People are sick of duds and eggheads telling us what we should be offended by. It’s good to see more and more people telling these folks to take a hike. Plus, if they changed the Thunderbird name there, does that mean the Beach Boys would have to change “Fun, Fun, Fun” to be about a Dodge Dart? Would the Springfield Thunderbirds be iced?
Let’s focus on getting fentanyl off the streets and let the mascots battle it out on their own. That’s one goddamn thing every Democrat and Republican should be able to agree on.
Keep your dukes up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF_o-N0fhZ0
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