At a Coachella Valley High School football game, you may be surprised to see belly dancers performing at halftime shows. Spectators also will find a snarling mascot wearing a headscarf firing up fans to root for the team.
This mascot has existed for nearly a century, but has now drawn the anger of an anti-discrimination group that calls the caricature offensive and stereotypical.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee recently sent a letter to school district officials asking them to get rid of the mascot. It said, “By allowing continued use of the term and imagery, you are commending and enforcing the negative stereotypes of an entire ethnic group, millions of whom are citizens of this nation."
Superintendent Darryl Adams said the topic will be discussed at the next school board meeting. He said he was surprised by the “Arab” name when he first was hired. He said, “Being an African-American from the Deep South, I’m sensitive to stereotyping. But in this context, when this was created it was not meant in that way. It was totally an admiration of the connection with the Middle East.”
The Arab mascot has been around since the 1920's and was a recognition of the areaÂ’s reliance on date farming, traditionally a Middle Eastern crop. The nearby community of Mecca also pays tribute to the Middle East. |