Racism in Marin County, CA 2001

Published on Sunday, February 18, 2001
© 2001 The Press Democrat

MARY CALLAHAN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Setting the stage for plenty of snide quips recommending alternatives such as the Oysters, school officials have done away with Tomales High's 50-year-old Braves mascot.

But the school board vote to ban the Indian and double tomahawks emblem is no joking matter to students and school boosters in the tiny coastal community.

Many of them are furious to lose the proud warrior behind whom several generations have rallied.

On the day after the 4-2 vote, an estimated 90 percent of the school's 280 students signed a petition demanding him back, according to several students and the football coach.

``At school today, I just couldn't believe it,'' student body President Kerri Azevedo said Friday. ``We need to have a rally to tell everyone to calm down.''

So sensitive is the subject that some parents and students refused to talk about it. But folks around the district said phones were ringing off the hook amid swelling support for a fight.

A new mascot has yet to be selected.

Azevedo said her refusal to take sides made friends mad. ``All the kids are just outraged,'' she said.

School board President Clairette Wilson said the mascot change was a difficult decision.

``I was the head of the booster club at one time and I know what that Brave head means,'' she said. ``Yet I put myself in somebody's shoes. I have to say to myself, `I have to respect and honor those peoples' feelings.'''

The two board members who voted against the change, Eileen Jensen and Tim Furlong, are Tomales High alumni. The only other board member to graduate from Tomales, Spirito Ballatore, was absent.

``The lesson to be learned is that it's a democratic society. Do we always have to change everything because one person is offended?'' asked Furlong, who also is the girls' basketball coach.

He said the Braves is a name that represents honor and dignity and is a sign of respect.

``One of the hardest things in life to do for people is to accept compliments,'' he said. ``Maybe that's what this is about. Maybe they should think more of this as being a compliment, than a slap in the face.''

Despite high-profile holdouts such as the Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins, many institutions across the country have done away with names some find offensive to American Indians.

When a North Carolina high school refused to change its mascots four years ago, the U.S. Justice Department stepped in to investigate whether such symbols violate the civil rights of Indian students enrolled in public schools. The issue was settled when school officials agreed to drop ``Squaws'' from girls' teams. The boys' teams kept the name ``Warriors,'' however.

The Shoreline Unified School Board voted away the Tomales High School Braves on Thursday at a meeting attended by only a handful of people.

District officials said they were surprised by the meager turnout, but several students involved in an 18-month debate about the mascot said it wasn't clear to them the board was going to vote.

Ashley Scheiding, a senior who stood virtually alone in support of a mascot change, said she wanted to promote sensitivity, even if it made her unpopular.

``The attitude at school is very ignorant, and I think that it's very important (that) we realize people are offended by this mascot,'' said Scheiding, president of the school's Diversity Club.

Some of those unhappy with the loss of their mascot said they don't understand why it raises objections.

``I don't feel that it's stereotyping,'' said junior Henry Brumm. ``It seems to me a pretty good name, and it's been our name for a really, really long time, and I don't see why we should just erase it.''

Tomales is a Miwok word meaning coast or bay. Tomales High draws students from Point Reyes Station in Marin County north to Bodega Bay and inland to Two Rock. It has only a few American Indian students.

The school adopted the Braves name in 1950, throwing out Wolverines after 20 or 30 years because it seemed too violent, according to Principal Terry Hughey.

The Braves mascot began raising questions of its own in recent years, Hughey said.

When he came aboard three years ago, some members of the staff asked if he'd be willing to re-open the dialog and he agreed.

Beginning last year, members of the student government explored objections to Indian-themed mascots and surveyed school board members, classmates and others in the community about their own mascot.

They concluded that they wanted to keep the Braves name but drop the double-tomahawk emblem. But the school board opted to drop the name entirely.

In the aftermath, some objected to the cost of replacing uniforms and repainting the gymnasium floor -- expenses that could reach $10,000, Hughey said.

For board member Gus Conde, however, ``that's a nonissue.''

``This is an issue of discrimination and institutionalized racism and you don't put a price tag on it,'' he said. ``If it's bad policy, if it's not correct, you change it.''

Still remaining is the matter of a new mascot. Though no serious discussions have been held, suggestions so far include the Sharks, Hughey said.

And of course, there are the inevitable references to the area's renowned oysters, clams and mussels. ``Ladies and gentlemen, your Fighting Bivalves!''

Staff Writer Cecilia Vega and News Researcher Vonnie Matthews contributed to this report. You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or e-mail mcallahan@pressdemocrat.com.