As Fresno High removes Native American mascot image, other local schools could follow

Fresno High School’s Warrior mascot that depicts a Native American caricature will be changed. The school will keep the “Warriors” moniker.

Fresno Unified School District board members voted 6-1 on Wednesday night to change the mascot Native Americans have described as “racist” and “offensive.” Trustee Terry Slatic cast the only “no” vote.

Students will lead efforts to design a new mascot image.

FUSD adopted an anti-racist resolution and vowed to make decisions in line with that, Trustee Veva Islas said.

“Whether you or others choose to admit it or not, the use of a Native American image centers this discussion on race,” Islas said during the meeting. “The fact that there has been expressed negative disparaging impacts as a result of the use of the mascot does make this conversation about racism. That is enough for me to know there is a clear need for change.”

There were 137 public comments, and the vast majority favored changing the mascot, with only eight in opposition.

Trustee Valerie Davis abruptly reversed her position on the issue after initially signaling support to keep the mascot.

“I don’t feel you can split the baby — keep the name change the logo,” Davis said before the vote. “Until I hear from the students, the alumni with a united voice with the community, I’m not about to change what somebody put in place 131 years ago. Is that racist? I don’t feel so.”

“I just have to believe that the people who started this school and the students this meant something to them, and I will honor that,” she added.

But when it came time to vote, Davis indicated student trustees who spoke during the meeting inspired her to change her mind and voted in favor of removing the Native American imagery.

Fresno High opened 131 years ago, said Trustee Carol Mills, who represents the Fresno High area, and through the decades, the Warrior mascot image has changed multiple times.

“I think people need to recognize there was never an intent to be disrespectful to Native Americans,” Mills said. “It may have ended up being viewed that way. It’s clear that the majority of Native Americans who communicated found the image should be changed.”

People have been “tremendously” harmed by some of the things done more than 100 years ago, Trustee Keshia Thomas said, and “we have to live in the future of what shouldn’t be.”

“When we’re talking about 100 years into the past,” Thomas said, “are we going to keep the Blackface, too? There were so many things that were harmful in school for me ... that I can’t even start to articulate how I felt.”

Student efforts to remove Native American imagery from mascot

The vote came to the board because of the movement and conversation that Fresno’s Jamie Nelson, a Yokuts Native, sparked. He said he started a petition in June advocating for FUSD to change the mascot because it’s offensive and degrading to Native Americans, especially since Fresno High sits on the land that was originally inhabited by Yokuts Natives before white colonizers stole it.

Nelson has received multiple death threats and harassment online for speaking out against the mascot, he said.

“It’s been tough,” Nelson told The Bee. “It’s something that will sit with me for a long time. I don’t get these kinds of moments. This is pretty monumental for me. I recognize the gravity of it, too. It’s not just a small school. It’s the Fresno High School, the oldest school in town. That matters. It’s going to ripple.”

Fresno Unified students have fought alongside Nelson to push the board to change the mascot.

One FUSD student, AJ Mijangos, a 15-year-old Roosevelt High School student who prefers they/them pronouns, said they received death threats after posting a TikTok video about why the Fresno High mascot should be changed.

“We are more than just characters with red skin and hooked noses and feathers,” Mijangos told The Bee this week. “We are people, and we are survivors.”

Nelson said he hopes the students feel a sense of “dignity” and “accomplishment.”

“I can’t stop thinking of those kids putting their neck out like that,” he said. “I cannot believe it. That’s so powerful. That will sit with me for the rest of my life.”

Although the movement gained many supporters, there were also people fighting to keep the Native American-themed mascot image.

After Nelson launched his petition, a counter-petition was created to keep the mascot by a Fresno High alumnus, Joshua Washburn.

The Fresno High Alumni Association also sent out an email to members on Nov. 10 urging them to send comments to FUSD board members urging them to keep the Native American-themed imagery.

Other FUSD schools could see mascots changes

Native American mascots have been used at schools for almost 100 years. In recent years, there has been a movement to eliminate them because research shows it can negatively affect student achievement.

Data show that Native students in Fresno Unified schools have struggled. About 0.6% of the district’s students were American Indian or Alaskan Natives in the 2018-19 school year, according to data from the California Department of Education. That same school year, about 45% of American Indian or Alaskan Natives did not meet English language arts/literacy standards set by the state’s California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress.

There are about 400 Native American students in FUSD. Many Native American students struggle academically and are chronically absent, Islas said. She discussed finding ways to support Native American students through creating a Native American ethnic studies course.

Several trustees signaled support for possibly removing all Native American-themed imagery from all Fresno schools. Those discussions could come before the board in the future.

“I knew if I could get Fresno High School to remove the mascot, that the logic of it would kick in,” Nelson said. “You don’t vote to remove a mascot that’s Native from one school in the district without then saying to yourself, ‘We can’t just remove one.’”

Nelson added he would continue working to keep the FUSD board accountable to make sure these conversations turn into action.

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 December 10, 2020 at 5:00 AM.