Retire the Rxdmen: Long Island High School Alumni Challenge Indian Mascot

Merrick, Massapequa, Patchogue, Manhasset, Montauk — the town names of Long Island, New York, are a patchwork of the Native American tribes who first inhabited the land. Today, few other indications of those richly cultured indigenous peoples remain. Centuries of colonization, genocide, and assimilation have eroded their presence from the public sphere.

But one aspect of the Native American experience is still part of the local ethos — stereotypes. School mascots are among the leading sources of native stigma, from the Massapequa Chiefs to the Manhasset Indians to the East Islip Redmen. Some Long Island residents have perceived such Indian mascots as symbols of “fearsome warriors” or “harrowing braves.” For others, the feathered caricatures have simply faded into the background. However, in recent months, as civil rights movements calling for the dismantling of systemic racism have ignited in the US and around the world, many have begun to reevaluate the perceived and subliminal effects of mascots that appropriate and dehumanize other cultures.

A group of alumni from East Islip High School are working to channel heightened awareness of racist institutions into action, starting with their alma mater’s namesake. On June 4th, 2020, former students launched “Retire The Rxdmen,” a campaign calling for the school to change its “Redmen” mascot with a petition that’s now garnered over 10,000 signatures.

“Generations of students have been misled by this mascot. They are fed the lie that the mascot represents ‘strength’ and a ‘warrior,’ and they believe the myth that it honors Native Americans,” said Kaitlyn Raitz, one of the Retire the Rxdmen campaign founders. “Long Island, the 10th most segregated metropolitan area in America, has a history stained with crimes of racism and bigotry. These mascots are a part of that narrative, and we can’t begin to address the bigger issues of racism on Long Island without addressing the mascots on the sides of the schools that educate our children.”

The Retire the Rxdmen campaign began when Raitz, who was initiating a petition to change East Islip High School’s mascot, learned that fellow alumni Theresa Park was doing the same. The two joined forces, with the help of other former and current East Islip High School students. They developed a Retire the Rxdmen website, Facebook group, and Twitter account to raise awareness of the campaign and the damaging effects of Native American mascots used by high schools and sports teams across the US. The campaign is calling for East Islip High School to transition to an appropriate non-Native mascot and adopt a zero-tolerance policy around the continued use of the “Redmen” name and imagery. The campaign organizers also aim to work with state education agencies and local Native American tribes to develop accurate educational materials about Long Island’s indigenous peoples to be used to teach students about Native American history and contemporary life.

Raitz said she and fellow campaign organizers have been seeking the guidance and support of Native American organizations and working to include them in the campaign. "We've reached out to many Native organizations and activists, including the National Congress of American Indians, the Association of American Indian Affairs, the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Suzan Sarjo, and Amanda Blackhorse, to name a few. Many of them shared the petition with their followers," said Raitz. "Our campaign aims to amplify voices that have been unjustly ignored on this issue for decades and, even more broadly, for centuries.”

Since its launch, the Retire the Rxdmen campaign has been picking up support, buoyed by the recent announcement that the former “Washington Redskins” football team will officially change their team name and news of other major-league sports teams considering following suit. Retire the Rxdmen organizers have been engaging in discussions with local school officials and are now preparing for a presentation to the East Islip community, superintendent, and board of education on July 30th, 2020.

The Retire the Rxdmen petition is still open, and the students gratefully seek the support of anyone interested in signing, regardless of their location. For Raitz and fellow campaign organizers, while Retire the Rxdmen is a local initiative, the goals of the campaign are much bigger.

“We believe in creating change from the bottom up, not the top down. To tackle the machine of white supremacy in America, you have to look at the cogs,” said Raitz. “The

root of bigger, more overarching issues like systematic racism all stem from the dehumanization of people. That includes mascots. These issues are inextricably linked, and tackling one injustice gets us one step closer to tackling other forms of injustice.”