Fresno High’s mascot is racist, Native Americans say. Push to change takes next step
A Fresno man who sparked a movement earlier this year to change Fresno High School’s Native American themed mascot said the district’s online town hall discussion on Thursday was insulting.
“The decision is so damn easy,” Jamie Nelson, a Yokuts Native, told The Bee. “It’s really upsetting. I almost abandoned the forum. They put us in a position as Native people (where) we had to explain trauma to a room full of people who ... ridiculed and tore you down.”
The Fresno Unified School District held a virtual town hall on Thursday night to hear from both sides of the debate and help educate people on the pain and trauma such mascots can cause Native Americans.
But Nelson said the debate shouldn’t be about whether the mascot is racist. Nelson said the mascot is racist and that issue should be considered settled. The only debate, Nelson said, should be about developing a new mascot.
“It’s ridiculous. If this was Blackface, this would not be happening,” Nelson said. “I haven’t been this upset during the entire phase of this petition.”
Nelson also criticized the forum on social media Thursday night. Fresno Unified officials declined to comment on Nelson’s criticisms following the forum.
Fresno High sits on the land that the Yokuts people originally inhabited before white colonizers stole their land. The National Congress of American Indians also emailed Superintendent Bob Nelson, board members, and other officials asking them to change the mascot.
“The ‘warrior savage’ myth has plagued this country’s relationships with the Indian people, as it reinforces the racist view that Indians are uncivilized and uneducated and it has been used to justify policies of forced assimilation and destruction of Indian culture,” the emailed obtained by The Bee said.
The issue found the spotlight over the summer with a petition Nelson created asking the Fresno Unified School District to eliminate all its Native American mascots, starting with Fresno High School. As of Thursday night, the petition has more than 5,100 signatures. Days later, a counter-petition was created to keep the mascot by a Fresno High alumnus, Joshua Washburn, which has about 1,800 petitions as of Wednesday night.
Fresno Unified also held small private listening sessions in September and October. On Monday, Fresno High school held a listening session for its students to discuss the mascot.
Fresno Unified had four guests speak before opening the town hall to community members: Nelson; Washburn; Nicholas Dodson, a Native American and Fresno High alum; and Cecilia Patino Funk, also a Fresno High alum.
The responses from community members were mixed. The majority of people who submitted comments were in support of changing the mascot and said having a Native American mascot is “racist,” “offensive,” and “disrespectful” of Native American culture.
Those on the opposing side said the district should not change the Native American mascot because it pays homage to the culture and has been the Fresno High tradition.
“Becoming a Fresno High Warrior was an honor to me,” Washburn said during the town hall. “I see our Warrior mascot as more of ... strength, equity and diversity.”
Fresno Unified board members will hear a presentation from staffers at a regular board meeting on Dec. 9. Board members will discuss changing the mascot and could vote on it.
Do Native American mascots affect student achievement?
Native American mascots have been used at schools for almost 100 years. In the last few decades, there has been a movement to eliminate them, in part, because research shows it can negatively affect student achievement.
About 2,000 teams in the country have some type of Native American mascot, and the majority are associated with schools, according to a study published in June in the academic journal Race Ethnicity and Education. The report said it’s “crucial” schools take “immediate” action to change mascots depicting Native Americans.
Most people in the U.S do not see Native American mascots as problematic, the study said. However, the study said, “the psychosocial effects of these mascots demonstrate either direct negative effects on Native Americans or that these mascots activate, reflect, and/or reinforce stereotyping and prejudice among non-Native persons.”
Multiple studies conducted in recent years also concluded that Native American mascots should be eliminated.
Nelson said he’s received death threats because he created the petition, and although he did not attend Fresno High, he went to Tenaya Middle School, which also has a Native American mascot. He said he was taunted by his peers who would mimic Native American chants and culture, all while being forced to wear the mascot logo every day on his P.E uniform.
Other schools in the central San Joaquin Valley have changed Native American names of mascots in recent years, including three Valley schools who used the racist term “Redskins” as a mascot. Those schools — Chowchilla High, Tulare Union High, and Gustine High — all dropped the offensive term.
However, Chowchilla and Tulare Union both renamed their mascots “The Tribe” and continued using Native American-themed imagery. Gustine became “Reds” and avoided Native American images with its new mascot.
The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.
This story was originally published November 13, 2020 at 5:00 AM.