Richland High should say goodbye to the Rebel mascot

I have received an email from an old high school classmate asking me to sign a petition in support of keeping the Rebels as the mascot at Richland High School, our alma mater, as the school’s theme faces mounting criticism.

Sorry, but I’m the wrong person to ask for such support. I decided long ago that the mascot should be changed.

I know my stance might not be popular with many of my fellow Richland graduates, who can remember great times at the school. So can I, from my time there in the late 1960s.

But we should be able to remember those wonderful days and still realize that the mascot and its trappings were born in a different time, when Richland was an all-white school. And we should realize that many view those symbols as conduits of hate and suppression.

Even in 1961, when Richland opened and the Rebel theme was adopted, racial division was a big issue.

I don’t know why a committee picked the Rebel theme. With battles over school desegregation and other civil rights issues emerging, the Confederate battle flag was gaining use as a symbol of defiance.

The country was celebrating the Civil War centennial, so maybe that was a factor. Or maybe the committee members just thought “Richland” and “Rebels” sounded good together.

There have been adjustments, and the flag is no longer used. But to those who think the school has never encountered problems caused by its mascot and isolation from others’ views, I must disagree.

Some examples:

▪ I was on the basketball team. In my senior year, we played an all-black Fort Worth school with a rich tradition, I.M. Terrell, in the finals of a tournament. Terrell was scheduled for closure soon as part of school integration in Fort Worth.

They beat us. But the thing I remember most was the tension in the stands, with Richland fans waving a sea of Rebel battle flags and some sticking the flags directly in the faces of Terrell fans. I was told there were confrontations in the parking lot.

▪ In 1989, at our 20-year class reunion, everyone seemed to have a great time. But when the group sang a slow, emotional version of Dixie, I became uncomfortable.

I couldn’t help watching some black members of the wait staff in the back of the room. They seemed shocked. I haven’t been back to any reunions, so I don’t know if Dixie is still sung.

I’m not the only alum who thinks the mascot should change. My daughter Allison, who graduated from Richland in 2000, thinks it would be a good idea.

Hannah DeKonty Goolsby, a 1965 graduate, once wrote a letter published by the Star-Telegram saying it was time to change.

“Richland is and always has been a fine high school with high standards, bright students, smart teachers and staff, wise administrators, and legions of parents, alumni, and community supporters,” she wrote. “Letting go of the Rebel theme would not be letting go of Richland High School. RHS deserves a mascot that honors the future.”

When Southwest High School in Fort Worth dropped its Rebel mascot many years ago, it was the right thing to do. When the University of Texas at Arlington stopped using the Confederate theme and became the Mavericks, it was the right thing to do.

Now, it is past time for Richland to do the same — because it is the right thing to do. We need to prepare our alma mater for the future.

John Gandy is a copy editor at the New York Times Editing Center in Gainesville, Fla., and a former employee of the Star-Telegram and The Dallas Morning News.

This story was originally published July 17, 2015 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Richland High should say goodbye to the Rebel mascot."