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A year or so before I entered kindergarten the district removed the confederate flag as the official school flag at Richland. 1/ https://twitter.com/birdvilleisd/status/1274105768158134274
That change in ‘93 was brought on by the NAACP, who overcame intense opposition to get it done. Along with the flag, Dixie was removed as the school song and the confederate soldier mascot was swapped out for a cartoonish cowboy called “Rebel Man.” But compromises were made. 2/
Richland’s dance team remained the “Dixie Bells”, the new flag still had stars but only one bar, and the sideline roaming-megaphone having spirit team, which I joined my senior year in ‘07 was still called the “Johnny Rebs” 3/
When Richland was founded as an all white school in a white flight suburb of Fort Worth in 1961, students got to vote on the mascot. Alliteration was favored, so the choices were Rangers, Raiders or Rebels. For the next 30ish years the yearbooks mostly looked like this 4/
after it was officially banned, the flag remained a part of the culture of the school. The RHS community had associated it with school spirit for so long that to many students who grew up in the district, including me, it truly took on that meaning. 5/
It’s hard to reconcile that feeling today as someone who abhors the flag and sees it for the racism it actually represents. But back in high school it was simply this off-limits thing and let’s sneak it into the homecoming parade 6/
That’s what’s so insidious about “rebranding” these hateful symbols as school mascots. it does work. I’ll always have some twinge of high school nolstagia mixed up with revulsion when I see the confederate flag. 7/
Over the years, there have been various attempts to change the mascot, and all met strong backlash from older alumni. The school board rejected this same proposal in ‘15 and the superintendent completely dismissed these concerns as recently as last year. 8/
This time, current students led the way with an online petition, and a well-organized letter writing campaign. For extremely cathartic viewing, please watch this school board meeting, in which letters are read verbatim to the board for 90min. 9/ https://birdvilleisdtx.new.swagit.com/videos/63100
Can’t emphasize how surprising it is that after yrs of steadfast refusal to change, the board turned around in 10 days and voted UNANIMOUSLY for removal. Y’all some of the board members were in a “Save Our Mascot” FB group as of last week. This seemed like an uphill battle. 10/
I don’t know who needs to hear this on Juneteenth of the year 2020 but when I tell my now 2yr old daughter about my defunct HS mascot someday, I’m gonna say it’s never too late to do the right thing. 11/11
