EDUCATION

Why so many people defend the Goshen Redskins mascot

Stephanie Wang
stephanie.wang@indystar.com

GOSHEN – She wanted to defend her school mascot, the Goshen Redskins, so beloved by many yet targeted for change.

In front of hundreds of people at a public meeting, the young woman spoke passionately into a microphone: “You took away the one thing that we had,” she said. “It’s the Goshen Redskins for a reason.”

With fierce pride, she whooped and patted her mouth, a stereotypical Native American call.

As the Goshen School Board neared a decision last week on the controversial mascot, defenders of the nickname turned out in force, emotional and adamant against the contemporary grain. Many also spoke up asking for a change.

Board members voted 5-2 to retire the culturally insensitive name and mascot on Jan. 1.

The issue has divided and roiled the city, shaking a small, tight-knit community built on generations of those who identified as Redskins.

“Way to ruin the city!” someone shouted on the way out of the meeting.

With national attention from the NFL controversy over the Washington Redskins, there is plenty of talk about why the name is disparaging, invoking the bloody scalps of slaughtered Native Americans forced out as their lands were taken away.

But why, when some stood up to say here’s why this name hurts me, did others in the audience grumble expletives under their breath?

Why did some mascot defenders insist there was only pride, and no derogatory intent, so the name should stand?

“I just think we lose objectivity when it’s something we care about,” said Ed Hirt, an Indiana University psychology professor.

Team allegiances, he said, can be core to identity — no different from ethnicity or religion. To change it is a violation, severing a link to the past.

Imagine, he said, how Baltimore felt when the Colts moved to Indianapolis.

Imagine if IU were to get rid of candy-striped pants.

And that loyalty can be blinding, Hirt said. Just look at the legions of New England Patriots’ fans defending quarterback Tom Brady in DeflateGate.

In hours of debate over the Goshen mascot, defenders argued that not all Native Americans considered the name to be derogatory. They insisted that an unhappy minority should not be able to overrule a majority.

“It’s a spit in my face,” said one person, who countered those who found the name offensive by saying it was offensive to him that a change was being considered. “I’m probably going to cry.”

Native Americans who felt discriminated against, one person argued, should “suck it up and deal with it.”

The School Board ought to worry instead about raising graduation rates, some said, or spending the estimated $7,000 to $16,000 cost of changing the mascot in wiser ways.

“We want to keep it, so now we have to convince ourselves that it’s the right thing to do,” Hirt said.

But some in Goshen felt persuaded beyond their hometown loyalty. School Board President Catherine Cripe, who ultimately voted for the change, talked of how it resonated with her when Native Americans said, “We’re not real human beings to you.”

School Board member Jane Troup remembered visiting a Native American group and hearing a leader explain why the nickname was offensive to him.

Feeling ornery, she refused to use the euphemism “the R-word” and continued to say “Redskins” to him.

“Today, I feel guilty for having done that,” she said, “because I was not being respectful to him.”

Still, in the end, Troup was one of two who cast votes against retiring the name.

Call Star reporter Stephanie Wang at (317) 444-6184. Follow her on Twitter: @stephaniewang.