Katherine Timpf of National Review Online takes note of a mascot controversy at Cal State-Long Beach.
California State University, Long Beach, has decided to do away with its “Prospector Pete” mascot amid concerns that it’s connected to genocide — and some students and faculty at the university are recommending that the school avoid using any person or people-inspired replacement to avoid offense. …
… “As our diversity grew and more voices were heard, we came to know that the 1849 California gold rush was a time in history when the indigenous peoples of California endured subjugation, violence and threats of genocide,” president Jane Close Conoley said in a statement. “Today, the spirit of inclusivity is reflected in our students, faculty, staff, alumni and community.” …
… The Times reports that Cal State–Long Beach plans to take input from students, faculty, and alumni in deciding on a replacement — and adds that “students and some faculty have suggested the university avoid modeling a new mascot after a specific person or group to prevent appropriating a culture or offending others on campus in the future.”
In other words? We have officially reached the point where people are suggesting that any human mascot of any kind may be offensive. Using this logic, a lot of mascots have got to go. An obvious one would be “Rowdy,” the Dallas Cowboys’ cowboy mascot. Cowboys are, after all, a “group” of people. In fact, the warning that mascots not be modeled after a “specific person” might threaten at least one animal mascot, too: The Baltimore Ravens’ “Poe.” After all, even though he is a bird, he is named after Edgar Allan Poe, who is indeed a “specific person.” The Steelers’ “Steely McBeam” would also certainly have to go, as perhaps would the team name, as “steelers” is certainly a group of people — there’s nothing offensive, of course, about the occupation of “steeler,” but “steelers” is still a “group” of people nonetheless.
