{"id":132714,"date":"2023-08-21T10:25:56","date_gmt":"2023-08-21T14:25:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=132714"},"modified":"2023-08-21T10:33:11","modified_gmt":"2023-08-21T14:33:11","slug":"minuteman-mascot-scrapped-at-calif-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/minuteman-mascot-scrapped-at-calif-school\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Minuteman’ mascot scrapped at Calif. school"},"content":{"rendered":"

School board members criticized firearm, lack of inclusivity<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A California high school can no longer use the “Minuteman” mascot after district leaders dropped the character due to its use of a firearm and concerns about it being offensive.<\/p>\n

“In a 4-1 vote, the Mount Diablo Unified School District board voted [on Aug. 16] to approve a recommendation to change the Concord High mascot from the ‘Minutemen’ to the ‘Bears,'” NBC Bay Area reported<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n

Concord, Calif., shares a name with Concord, Mass., the site of the Battles of Lexington and Concord during the America Revolutionary War.<\/p>\n

Changing the school’s mascot will cost $200,000, according to the NBC affiliate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf changing a mascot will make students feel welcomed, embraced and empowered them to participate more at the school, then I will support this,\u201d Mt. Diablo Unified School board member Linda Mayo told the news outlet.<\/p>\n

The mascot change committee “expressed concerns about the mascot including the portrayal of the minuteman showcasing a firearm,” the outlet reported.<\/p>\n

However, one school mother interviewed said the funding should go elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe school is in disrepair,” Lynette Dashner told NBC. “I mean there’s dirt, rocks, squirrels all over the place,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Concord High Principal Julene Mackinnon cited symbol’s “brutality” despite her own history in the military.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m a former minuteman. That’s my history. I went to school here, graduated class of \u201891 but I also want to make sure that we have a mascot that represents everyone,\u201d Mackinnon said.<\/p>\n

However, another parent said the symbol represented a range of groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cMinutemen had a proud history; they weren’t just men, there were women, there were African Americans,\u201d Julie Lyster told the outlet.<\/p>\n

A “minuteman” is an American Revolution-era militiaman who pledged “to be ready for military duty ‘at a minute’s notice,'” according to Britannica<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the term has been used since to describe other military groups, according to the U.S. Air Force.<\/a><\/p>\n

“Retired Col. Linda Aldrich was one of the first women to break through the glass ceiling, or in this case glass floor, and serve on an all-female Minuteman II missile crew underground in the mid-1980s,” according to the Air Force website.<\/p>\n

As of April, the district had been trying to change its mascot for over a year, “following a district decision to replace human mascots for non-human mascots” in 2021, NBC reported<\/a> April 25.<\/p>\n

A majority of 1,100 students surveyed chose “Bears” as an alternative.<\/p>\n

Some parents had aimed to “merely modify the image, by eliminating the weapon and adding a woman to keep a symbol they believe shows their patriotism,” according to NBC Bay Area.<\/p>\n

MORE: New College mascot like an \u2018angry, threatening brown\u2019 person: activist<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

IMAGE: YouTube\/NBC Bay Area<\/p>\n

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