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JPS To Review Use Of ‘Red Raider,’ Forming Committee

Jamestown Public Schools announced Monday that they would review the district’s use of the nickname, the “Red Raider.” P-J file photo

A committee of “students, parents, staff and community members” is being formed to look closely at the district’s nickname, the “Red Raider.”

“Given today’s climate and the important issues revolving around equity, it is vital that our community knows that we hear their concerns regarding the JHS logo, imagery and name,” Dr. Kevin Whitaker, Jamestown Public Schools superintendent, said in a release. “The voicing of these concerns creates an opportunity for JPS to hear, and work to understand, all points of view on the issues raised. It is also an invaluable educational lesson for our children to see our community come together to collaboratively work through an issue of community concern.”

He continued, “JPS is launching a community conversation regarding this issue. We have formed a committee of students, parents, staff and community members to hear stakeholder feedback. We are committed to seeing this process through. The subsequent introduction of legislation regarding this issue does not change our goal – to hear all sides of the issue and collaborate on a solution as a community.”

“As the logo and name have been a long-standing tradition at JHS, this cannot be an overnight solution,” Whitaker said. “We hope by talking about concerns and viewpoints in a committee format, we will find a way to bridge understanding and create an outcome that will make everyone feel heard in the process.”

Whitaker’s comments come as the result of a movement — started last month by the Jamestown Justice Coalition — to change the district’s longtime nickname. Justin Hubbard, coalition coordinator, sees Monday’s announcement as “a step in the right direction on the path to ending the derogatory use of Native American iconography, imagery, stereotypical names and harmful caricatures by JHS.”

“The Seneca Nation president has supported the ending of this numerous times as well,” he added. “This cannot be a popularity contest. This is right versus wrong. We as a community must acknowledge the harm we have caused our Native American neighbors as well as evaluate what lessons we truly want to teach our children. The JJC looks forward to working with this committee.”

Hubbard’s reference is to a statement by Seneca Nation President Rickey L. Armstrong Sr., who voiced his support for the movement in a statement released to The Post-Journal on June 18 noting that the “time for change has long since arrived, and the call should be heeded.”

Whitaker told The Post-Journal Monday afternoon that the committee — which will be discussed at a special remote meeting of the board of education set for tonight at 6 p.m. — will attempt to be a representation of the district’s constituent group.

“We met (Monday) with the committee that was originally part of the team that was part of the original work that was done in 2017,” Whitaker said, noting that the district did take up the issue three years ago.

“The charge to that group was to determine if we had accomplished what we set out to do three years ago,” he said. “That group met for the first time in recent times today. So it’s going to be a reconstituted group that will hopefully represent our constituents.”

The nation’s concerns will also be heard, he said.

“We are here for the president, I am here for the Seneca Nation and anyone who would like to talk to us about this,” Whitaker said. “Members of the committee reinforced that .. We want to make sure that their voice is heard and that we are given a clear path that is made known to this group.”

Whitaker said that the work in forming this committee predated Monday’s announcement by the National Football League’s Washington franchise that its longtime nickname — long considered a racial slur — would be retired. The Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves are also considering changes to their name.

It also comes amid state legislation, introduced by State Sen. Pete Harkham, D-South Salem, in the state Senate that would amend the state Education Law to exclude schools with race-based mascots from receive state aid to schools. Companion legislation has yet to be introduced in the state Assembly.

“We’ve already started this work,” Whitaker said. “The developments weren’t the impetus for us to begin it and whether or not that bill becomes a law, we were still looking into this.”

The debate over the district’s nickname is not new: then-state education commissioner, Richard Mills, issued a memo to school boards “end the use of Native American mascots as soon as practical” in 2001. Jamestown began to phase out the use of a Native American character portrayal and caricature beginning in 2012. By 2015, all district athletic teams began using a capital ‘J’ with a feather.

A similar dispute over the same mascot name and similar imagery is also going on in Bellefonte, Pa., according to The Lock Haven Express. The Daily Gazette, out of Schenectady, also reported on July 9 that the Mechanicville City School District is conducting a review of the use of the same name and imagery.

The movement to change the name — which started with an online petition started by Autumn Echo of the Jamestown Justice Coalition that has, as of press time, received over 850 signatures — kickstarted a counter-effort, started by 1993 graduate Melissa Paterniti, to keep the name the same which has received over 1,200 signatures.

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