Now that Jackie Goldberg has been termed-out of the California State Assembly, I am at a complete loss as to which lawmaker, if any, will have the courage to carry the banner on a matter of significant state importance.  It appears, unless some unknown legislator steps to the plate, that the vital issue of inappropriate, insensitive, politically incorrect team mascot names may not be debated in the California legislature this year.

Former Assemblywoman Goldberg made somewhat of a career in this arena, advocating for laws to make unlawful the use of American Indian team mascots at public schools.  Not surprisingly, a whole slew of fascists, racists, sexists, chauvinists, Huns, Republicans and readers of the FlashReport have long opposed the idea.

Personally, I could not believe at the time that I had stooped so low as to allow myself to work for someone as obviously insensitive as now retired Assemblyman Jay La Suer, who said of Jackie’s efforts, “It’s political correctness taken 18 steps too far,” while puffing his chest and bragging openly that he had been both an El Cajon Valley High Brave and San Diego State University Aztec.

She is gone from the legislature now, but Goldberg was cutting edge.  She knew that even with an unprecedented state budget deficit of more than $25 billion, and a lot of hard work ahead to further seek ways to bankrupt California, we must still find an end to all the kids with their feelings hurt everyday because their school teams have names like the Redskins and Apaches.

Natalie Stites, an oft-quoted leader in this regard, has found a reason for the high rates of suicide, unemployment, poverty and low academic achievement among certain youth populations.  The statistics cannot be disputed, perhaps, but then she makes the connection:  “All of those problems are found in the imagery used by our public schools.”

Uh-huh, and, regretfully, I know first hand the psychobabble of which she speaks.  One time, in the third grade at Longfellow Elementary School in Whittier, a fourth grade boy stole my peanut butter sandwich right out of my Alvin & the Chipmunks lunchbox and made fun of my last name, which is German.  The mock “Heil” salute he made was particularly egregious.  Until then I made straight As – or 1s, if I remember – but then I ended up graduating from high school with only a 3.43 GPA, and could only muster enough resourcefulness to attend Grossmont College and San Diego State, forced to be both a Griffin and an Aztec.

Even at La Mesa’s Helix High School in the mid-1970s, I was aware of the hurt feelings and resulting detrimental effects the school’s moniker had on my poor, hapless Scottish-American peers.  Can you even imagine a school using the name Highlanders and the shortened Scotties?  The many kids of Scottish descent that have attended Helix over the years have had a rash of problems, including lower test scores – some students even relegated to non-honors classes – and a lifelong fear of bagpipes being played in public.  Many have been ASB officers and cheerleaders, demoralized after years of the administration insisting, out of school pride, that only Scotch Tape be used to affix posters on campus.

Goldberg and her posse point out that sports caricatures unfairly paint certain groups as war-like, but that’s just the beginning of the severity of this problem.  The aforementioned Highlanders name, used by a football team, could inappropriately suggest that the roving clans of medieval Scotland were something other than quiet, law-abiding citizens with neighborhood watch programs.  

Yet, the reason the Highlanders name is even more ridiculous is that no one could possibly play football in a kilt.  Rules would have to be in place not just for face masking, but also for jock strapping, and Reggie Bush would never have rushed for 200 yards in a game while at Helix.

The Fighting Irish is probably the most glaring example of racial insensitivity in the nation, but there are plenty of schools throughout California just as backwards.  Take the Norsemen or the Vikings, two similar instances found at several schools.  Such a name in sports is obviously meant to conjure up images of rough-hewn warriors, prepared for the battle.  But, that’s not being too nice to our Scandinavian students, is it?  And, even if you don’t think anything war-like is implied by the name, what about girls’ softball, soccer, and basketball?  Wouldn’t Norsepersons be more caring and understanding?

Then there’s the host of callous animal or bird names, like the Lions, Bears, Cougars, Condors, and Eagles, even the Roadrunners, and what of the Ducks? (Downey, CA, on that one, in case you’re wondering).  I can’t be sure what is meant by the Monarchs, but one meaning is downright undemocratic and the other…well, butterflies are graceful, not big, mean football players.  I nearly forgot the Matadors, but the obvious racial overtones are far too much to bear.

You see, this issue should really be about no one getting hurt, not as the result of their heritage, their gender, their race, or what kind of animal they are.  If it’s not bad enough when the Vaqueros play the Braves, that kids and parents on one side are screaming, “Lasso the Indians” and the other side is chanting, “Corral the Cowboys,” let’s think about it a bit deeper.  

Those Vaqueros are Mexican cowboys, and that’s not being very nice either.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 10th, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.