School mascots

 Do you remember your high school mascot?  Or the one from college? What feelings does your mascot evoke?

I don’t usually talk politics on this blog.  But something is happening here on Long Island … you may have heard about it …

As you may know, many of the towns here on Long Island have Native American place names: Manhasset, Setauket, Amagansett, Montauk, to name a few. 

And many of the school districts on Long Island used to use Native American names and imagery as their school mascots. 

I said “used to” because two years ago the State Education Department issued a directive that schools remove such mascots.  That these mascots were caricatures and stereotypes, that using such imagery violated the civil rights of Native Americans.  A district could get an exemption to this directive only if a local tribe agreed that the district could keep their mascot. Of course, no local tribes would agree to an exemption.

So most of the affected school districts across the state complied.  My high school, formerly known as the Thunderbirds, now call themselves the Red Hawks.  

But four Long Island districts — Wantagh, Wyandanch, Connetquot and Massapequa — filed a lawsuit in federal court, seeking to overturn the ban. The judge dismissed the lawsuit in March.  And three districts are now attempting to comply with the state’s directive.  

But Massapequa…

Massapequa, as you may know, is the former home of Jerry Seinfeld, Jessica Hahn, the members of the Stray Cats, the Baldwin brothers, and the infamous Joey Buttafuoco.  It’s a middle class neighborhood, very blue collar.  

And its mascot

Yeah …

And the community politics tend to be very “red”, if you know what I mean. Anyone surprised?

I have a friend, he’s an alumnus, he told me that the mascot honors our Native American population.  Hmmm … but if that were true, wouldn’t the local tribe agree that they could use the mascot?

Well, Massapequa did not take steps to comply with the state’s directive.  Instead, the district amended its pleadings in court, and then appealed to … you guessed it … Donald Trump.  

So the United States Department of Education got involved.  And, turning decades of civil rights law on its ear, determined that the state’s directive violates the civil rights of the people of Massapequa.  The matter has been referred to the Department of Justice.

One little problem, though.

School districts have until June 30, 2025 to comply with the state’s  directive or face consequences. Wyandanch has complied, and Wantagh and Connetquot received extensions, since they are making efforts to comply.

Massapequa applied for an extension.  It was denied because the district has taken no steps to acquire a new mascot. The pending litigation and the federal government’s findings were not seen as sufficient reason to grant the district additional time. 

I see a court battle looming …