I had someone on my friends list on facebook post pics of her son in his football uniform with a caption of "Go Demons!" I looked at the pic on the big screen and sure enough, the logo is a human-like goulish face with rams horns. What school district thought that was a good idea??? Just thought I'd post to others who would understand my disgust. :roll:
When I was in jr. high, our mascot was the raiders. A few years after I finished there, they changed it to cougars. There was just too much controversy when trying to come up with a logo or mascot to represent the school. They decided that a person who raids others (pilaging and violence were also brought up) was not a good representation of our school.
Really? Wow. There was controversy in a neighboring district who wanted to lose their "Rebels" status since the rebel flag has such a racist history. We never really had anything but animals. I guess one district was the Vikings. Mostly just animals, though....and mostly dog breeds.
We are the Redskins,so far we haven't had to change it. But there was a big thing about it last year. But the school district (its a big stuck up district) stood it ground and wouldn't change. The other disctrict each of its schools has its own. And then one of the neighboring schools has a ram. And the other major team that the redskins goes against is Trogans (we always go head to head with them,ESPN comes to town to put them on tv the last game).
One of the colleges here has a demon mascot. I'm not crazy about it, but neither I nor mine attended there, so it's pretty easy to ignore. The local high school has, ever since there has been a football team here, been the Indians. There's a tribe just a few miles from here, and we've always gone to the same high school. Reds and whites were integrated long before blacks were. Anyway, for the longest time (when I was a kid - he's long dead now), the actual chief of the tribe would wear his buckskins and feathers to be in parades (homecoming, Mardi Gras, Christmas), and the "official Indian head" symbol was supposedly to look like him, but I never thought it did. With all the talk all over the country about using Indians, Redskins, Seminoles, etc., as mascots, I don't think our local tribe has thought of it as an insult at all, but an honor. Indian, or as they often write it, NdN, boys have always played on the teams (football, basketball - we don't have much else here). Some of the area teams are Bulldogs, Hornets, YellowJackets, Bobcats, Fighting Bluejays, Bearcats, Tigers, and other animals. They never changed, they've always been that way. One of those mascots I've liked pretty much through the years has been the Gents, with a character who looks somewhat like Colonel Sanders.
Maybe incidents like this will help us to appreciate that choosing team names such as Braves and Seminoles can be offensive to the native American community. It's all a matter of perspective, right? When I grew up in Britain, one particular brand of jam gave away "golliwogs." Can you imagine the uproar if they did that today? Thankfully, over time, society became more sensitive to minority issues. While Christians, in general, tend to be more tolerant than most, I would hope that our sensitivities would be appreciated too. In return, maybe the day will soon come when I won't hear derogatory names for gays or Muslims, for example, from a church pulpit.
My cousin's son plays football for his high school -- the Devils. You should see the mascot, he's a freaky looking thing. I'd post it here, but... well... I don't really want to. I agree, Brooke, I'd like to know who thought that was such a fantastic idea for a team name. :?
And, many Native Americans have the perspective that it is a good thing. The way I see it, being politically correct is more about being fearful of offending (or trying to appease) a "minority mindset" often within an ethic group. It is not the numbers that make a "minority" within the US these days, it is choosing to be a minority. The irony is that EVERYONE is a minority. Homeschoolers are a minority! Even I have felt discriminated against at times in my life, but I do not go running around shaming everyone for the prejudice of a few. Going back to the "demons" name, I would not want my daughter cheering on demons, but that is my personal preference. (Devils also would be a factor, unless they are referring to the animal, as in tasmanian devils.) I can choose not to participate in that activity or have her not go to that school and because I homeschool it is not an issue for me, but it would be if I had no choice but the public school.
Gee, Steve, I consider myself pretty well-read (or used to be?) but I had to go to Wikipedia to look up golliwog. Had not a clue. Not crazy about team mascot Demons or Devils (unless like Devil Dogs or Tasmanian Devils, something like that that's clearly an animal), either one.
Based on the face of the mascot on their website, the Devils team I'm referring to is definitely not a Tasmanian Devil nor a Devil Dog. It's for sure a representation of Satan. In case you're curious: http://www.mboro.jacksn.k12.il.us/education/school/school.php?sectionid=9
My highschool was the Fighting Highlanders. Our mascot is an old-looking Scottish dude. We were fortunate to have several high schoolers who were trained (on purpose, of course) to play the pipes for band. Our colors were purple and white, though, so it always looked odd to have all the tartan stuff on the pipers. lol. [So I just looked up my old school to find a good picture and they've changed the mascot to look a lot more "manly" than he used to. lol. He used to be an old Scotsman in a kilt and tam. He's still got the tam, but he's all younger and super buff now. (scroll down to see the variations) Interesting.]
Here's the brand that I remember from childhood. You collected tokens from each jelly jar and used them to buy things. We had a collection of golliwog "statuettes", if I can call them that. I remember one group of them that comprised a jazz band. At the time, of course, we thought nothing of it. They were just characters, like many other children's characters. But, looking back, it was an era of blatant racism. We saw no black faces in Cornwall, and many of the jokes passed around in school made fun of black people. Again, as children, we had no idea, and it was not meant with malice. Later, at university, particularly getting my doctorate and working alongside students from other countries, I made many friends from around the world. It was truly an international community, and I now had a very different perspective on race. Then I went to work in London, living in a Midlands town fundamentally divided into different racial and social communities. I remember vividly on a bus how a local manager made an incredibly racially offensive comment. While not aimed at me, I took it quite personally. This was one of the reasons why I decided to leave that place - and, as it happens, the country. Looking back, I feel bad about the atmosphere that the culture of the time created around minority communities. If I had been a minority myself, I would have felt threatened, suffocated, and not part of the mainstream community. It was the little things that did it, little symbols that reinforced how "normal" it was to mock those different from the majority - and, while I didn't realize it at the time, the golliwog was one such symbol. This is why I am sensitive to minority issues. Sports names are a small thing, but they can be very telling of our attitudes. Going out of our way to change those little things can help to rebuild bridges. So why, as a Christian, do I not feel as strong a need to replace sports names such as "devils?" (1) Because the Christian faith is mainstream; (2) Because the name is not meant at all to be demeaning; (3) Because there's no intended or underlying link to the occult; (4) Because it gives us, the Christian community, the opportunity to demonstrate tolerance and goodwill even when the intent is to mock. Given what's happening across the Middle East right now, it is a striking contrast. Honestly, I hope that our activist "Christian culture" doesn't start to react to small items in a way that brands us as political fanatics. There's so much "invented umbrage" around that it's rather like crying wolf. One day, when a matter really is serious, our credibility will be shot.
On the other side of that is just how tolerant do we Christians have to be before the credibility of all we believe is so far watered down that we are much like the unbelievers in their eyes? What is going to happen in the world is not going to be stopped. It has been prophesied by our God, the One we believe in and wish to honor with every breath of our lives (even though we often fall short of that). It is just a little thing here and another little thing there and on until we look around and realize that we have clothed ourselves with all the world wanted Christians to be so that it could tolerate us instead of being the light and salt for the world. If standing up for what I believe or standing against those who would oppose my beliefs in honoring my God makes me a political fanatic, then I say give me wisdom, my Lord, in using it all for Your glory and give me strength to continue to stand when it is Your will for me to do so. Does that mean that a team called "devils" or "demons" should change their name? Maybe. A compromise would be to change their mascots. By the way, Christianity is not the only religion to believe in demons or devils and since these figures are religious based, I think that the schools are in violation of their own rules of separation from religion.
I was mid-conversation with a Wiccan friend when I read this, seeking. She agrees with you. She said that demons aren't to be trifled with and she'd be very uncomfortable sending her child to a school that encouraged warm-fuzzies toward evil beings.
So what about the California Angels? or the Blue Angels flight team (the British equivalent is the Red Devils)? or the New Orleans Saints? San Diego Padres? So many teams use names with religious connotations. Don't these names trivialize spiritual things? Personally, I don't see that they are meant to be taken too literally or seriously.
I was taken aback by the blatantly evil nature of the mascot. A demon is universally recognized as evil. It got me thinking to the moment when the mascot was chosen and the thought process involved. There are many mascots who embody power without it being evil. Just makes you wonder why they went with demons. To me, the professional teams make their choices and then sell themselves to the public. You can choose to show your support or not with your money; however, a school district ought to put a bit more thought into the fact the mascot will be representing a wide variety of peoples and cultures who have no other alternative than to attend that particular school.
