Thousands Sign Petition To Change Tewksbury High School Mascot

TEWKSBURY, MA — Over 4,500 people have signed a petition to rename the Tewksbury Memorial High School mascot, the "Redmen." Signers called the mascot a racist stereotype and cultural appropriation.

The petition was started amid a nationwide reckoning with racism following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.

This is not the first time the mascot has been the center of a public debate: in 2016, the Tewksbury School Committee voted 4-1 to keep the mascot following a Town Hall forum. In following years, state legislators have brought forward bills to ban public schools from using Native American mascots.

The petition was started by Grace Morris, a Tewksbury Memorial High School graduate, the Tewksbury Town Crier reported.

"Tewksbury is a town that leads in education, sports, and community," Morris wrote. "However, with a Native American mascot, we are teaching the youth that cultural appropriation is okay. It is time for the us as a community to recognize that it is time for change. Please sign this petition if you want to see Tewksbury grow as a community and respect the culture of local Native Americans."

As of Tuesday afternoon, 4,549 people have signed the petition, which currently has a goal of 5,000 signatures.

"I am a teacher and a coach at Tewksbury HS," Francis Cusick wrote in the petition. "I love the town of Tewksbury and the high school community is a wonderful place to work. However, it is hypocritical for us as a school to discuss issues surrounding racial justice while sporting a mascot that is a caricature of a native person."

"Especially in a predominately-white town, Native American mascots teach 2-dimensional racial stereotypes to kids and disguise it as pride," wrote Alexa Forgione. "The oppression and murder of Native Americans was historically justified by saying Native Americans are “primitive”, “savage”, and “violent”. Using them to represent our sports teams as tough and ruthless- “on the war-path” - perpetuates this narrative, especially when coupled with our lack of of a comprehensive history education of Indigenous People. Our sports records are not erased if the mascot changes, but the full humanity of Native Americans is. When people are seen as by-gone or one-dimensional, racism persists."

The National Congress of American Indians has been campaigning for the end of "harmful 'Indian' mascots" for over 50 years.

"Rather than honoring Native peoples, these caricatures and stereotypes are harmful, perpetuate negative stereotypes of America’s first peoples, and contribute to a disregard for the personhood of Native peoples," the organization wrote about its campaign.

Defenders of the mascot claim it is an homage Wamesit village of the Pennacook tribe that was centered in what is now Lowell and extended into what is now Tewksbury. A counter-petition has gathered 1,277 signatures.

"We cannot change everything in the world to accommodate for the few people that get offended by it," the anonymous petitioner wrote. "The fact is, not many people are offended by it. Native Americans come into our school to teach us about the name and what it means. We as a community respect the name and understand its historical meaning."

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.