As the NFL’s Washington Redskins continue to receive public and legal pressure to change its name, with a federal judge upholding the cancellation of some of the team’s trademarks earlier this week, should Massachusetts high schools with Native American mascots — including Wilmington’s rival Tewksbury — consider their own name change? That’s Wilmington Apple’s “Question of the Day” for July 10!
While the intent of Tewksbury’s mascot is to surely honor the town’s Wamesit Indian history, such nicknames are offensive to some Native Americans. In fact, the Natick school system changed their “Redmen” athletic team name back in 2007 due to similar concerns.
Whether or not you believe the term “Redmen” is racist, it’s certainly racial — referring to a specific race of people. Aside from Native Americans, how many teams “honor” other races through their nicknames and mascots? Team names honoring White Americans, European Americans or Middle Eastern Americans? Team names honoring African Americans? Team names honoring Asian Americans? Team names honoring Native Hawaiians/Other Pacific Islanders?
Or… Is even considering a name change just political correctness run amok? There appears to be very little controversy in Tewksbury surrounding the name. If the term “Redmen” is a source of pride in town, should outsiders just respect the town’s and school system’s wishes to remain the “Redmen?”
Let Wilmington know via the Wilmington Apple Facebook page, via the Wilmington Apple Twitter page, in the comments section below, or via email at wilmingtonapple@gmail.com. Any responses may be used in a future article.
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