Willoughby-Eastlake School District has decided to drop its “Rebel” mascot depicting a Confederate soldier, according to a memo that went out on Thursday.
The memo reads: “In light of the perception of the Civil War Rebel Icon, Willoughby-Eastlake City Schools has made a decision to move forward to identify a new figure to represent the South High Rebels.”
“When the decision was made to initially identify the South High Rebels using the Civil War Rebel Icon as their mascot, it was done so as a symbol of the history of this country. Since that time, the Rebel Mascot has taken on a negative connotation and as a district we do not feel it is in the best interest of the community and our students to perpetuate this sentiment.”
The memo goes on to say that the school district plans to seek input from students, staff, and the community to identify a new school mascot. As a 2006 graduate of Willoughby South High School, and a member of the community, I will add my input as well.
Willoughby South High School should keep the Rebel mascot.
I am shocked to already be saying that times were very different when I was in high school, as it has only been a decade since I graduated. I was a student during the “good ‘ol days.” The days before hypersensitivity and concern about “microaggressions” became an epidemic in the country, predominantly at schools.
When I was a student at Willoughby South, people didn’t dwell on something as silly as a pastel, blue-and-white cartoon of a Confederate soldier. Nobody accused the Rebel mascot of having a negative connotation. Like adults, everybody at school understood that our mascot was just a double entendre symbolizing American history and our friendly football rivalry with the high school north of us (Eastlake North), whose mascot is a “Ranger.”
When I first learned about the Civil War in high school, I remember looking at my school mascot and having the meaning of both the North and South mascots suddenly become clear in my mind. I had that “gotcha” moment when I realized the two schools cleverly worked together to have the mascots correlate. It was also when I realized how important it is for us to know our history, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to pick up on little things like that.
That was my and my fellow classmates’ reaction to figuring out what our school’s mascot represented. Back then, we didn’t scream, protest, destroy public property, or demand a safe space. In fact, “safe spaces” didn’t even exist. If you were to go back in time and describe today’s concept of a safe space to students a decade ago, they’d laugh at you. Everybody would simply assume you’re joking.
The Rebel mascot does not represent racism. To many of us, the Willoughby South mascot represents a nostalgic piece of childhood. When we see the Rebel illustration, we see a symbol of school pride and a football rivalry mixed with a fact about American history. It really is just as simple as that. Well, in an adult’s mind anyway.
It’s sad to see all of this hysteria over mundane issues plague the nation, but the problem of political correctness really sinks in after hearing about my old high school. Now the school will be stripped of the mascot that reminds us of Friday night football games under the bright lights in our quiet suburb where everybody gets along.
However, I am not going take matters further than stating my opinion here in this article. You won’t catch me protesting outside of my high school or vandalizing public property, because I am an adult with real-life priorities. It is concerning, however, to watch other adults, who should know better, prioritize and call attention to something so silly.
This type of behavior is irresponsible and sets a bad precedent for the children who are watching.
Alana Mastrangelo is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a political activist and writer.
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