GLASTONBURY, Conn. — The Glastonbury Board of Education is continuing to move forward with changing the high school's mascot.
The mascot they are phasing out, the "Tomahawks", falls in line with other mascots and team names around the country that are changing due to concerns over offensive stereotypes and cultural appropriation.
In a report filed during the meeting, Principal Nancy Bean said the following:
"Glastonbury High School would like to eliminate the use of the Tomahawk logo and nickname due to the negative stereotyping of Native Americans that results from its use. While the Tomahawk is still our official mascot, Glastonbury High School has phased out its use during the past few years.
Efforts have been made by the athletic department to discontinue the use of the logo and nickname as school-issued athletic uniforms come through the replacement cycle. While there are still uniforms that need to be replaced, many have already replaced the imagery and nickname of the Tomahawk and moved toward the use of the block “G” symbol that is commonly associated with Glastonbury High School."
Bean said that the school is working with the student council to come up with the new mascot.
The BOE passed the request for the high school to continue to eliminate the mascot. Two petitions have been creating, one for removal of the mascot and one advocating for it to stay.
The petition to keep the mascot has over 2,000 signatures and says in part:
"It’s not like Glastonbury is “stealing their tool” or “making fun of it” when it’s something you can find at any local hardware store and it has proven to be a very helpful tool. There’s no Native American in the logo either, it’s just an axe like graphic. What is offensive about an axe?"
You can see the full petition here.
The petition that calls on the Superintendent to change the mascot has over 1,200 signatures:
"According to the National Congress of American Indians’ website, "Rather than honoring Native peoples, these caricatures and stereotypes are harmful, perpetuate negative stereotypes of America’s first peoples, and contribute to a disregard for the personhood of Native peoples.”
Although the Tomahawk is not depicting a person, it is cultural appropriation and is therefore disrespectful to the Native Americans indigenous to this area."
You can see that full petition here.
On Monday, the Washington D.C. NFL team retired its name due to its offensive nature.
"On July 3rd, we announced the commencement of a thorough review of the team's name. That review has begun in earnest. As part of this process, we want to keep our sponsors, fans and community apprised of our thinking as we go forward," the team said in a statement.
The review of their name came after mounting pressure for corporate sponsors, including FedEx, Pepsi, Bank of America and Nike. While a new name for the team has not yet been chosen, the transition is expected to occur soon.
While team owner Daniel Snyder had previously opposed making such a move, pressure for the team to change their name came amid a newfound awareness of racial insensitivities in the United States following George Floyd's death in Minneapolis and the civil unrest that followed. In the week's since Floyd was killed while being arrested on Memorial Day, several companies and brands have made pledges to either examine or change racially insensitive names and/or mascots.